The Beginning of The End
by lokishorcrux
Summary: When SHIELD collapses, Darcy and Jane are forced to seek refuge on Asgard. But Darcy doesn't count on one night time wander leading to her encountering a God who, by all accounts, is supposed to be dead. However Loki has been kept alive for a reason. And it's a reason that could lead to the destruction of the universe itself. Set after winter soldier. Loki/Darcy. Tasertricks.
1. Chapter 1: The End of The World

_Is this the end of the world?_  
><em>I cannot bear to watch it burn<em>  
><em>But we're crawling in the dirt.<em>  
><em>Is this the end of it all?<em>  
><em>Well we used to stand so tall.<em>  
><em>I barely recognise us anymore.<em>

* * *

><p>Logically, the tale of how the world ended would start at the beginning. However that is a story of hammers and giants, of hidden truths and self-discovery. The story of another woman and another God whose tale could not be given justice in these chapters.<p>

Perhaps then the middle, a story of blue cubes and red energy, of dark elves and chitauri, of heroes and villains. A long and complex story which would only come slightly closer to the true tale of how the world ended.

So then, the story starts at the beginning of the end. A story of tasers and chapstick, of leather and helmets, of books and candlelight. A story of how a broken man found love in the most unlikely of places. A story of how love found an intern despite her best efforts to avoid it. A story of arguments, hatred, affection, disdain and passion.

A story, in short, of Ragnarök.

* * *

><p>The end of the world started not with a bang but with a phone call.<p>

"Hello?" Darcy asked, frowning at her phone. The number wasn't just unknown but the text across the screen said it was blocked from access. That was a first.

"Darcy?" The voice replied. "Oh thank God."

"Kate?" Darcy asked recognising the voice.

"Yeah listen-" She cut off as Darcy heard banging in the background.

"Is that gunfire?" Darcy asked, mouth gaping.

Jane looked up from where she was working, frowning at her questioningly.

"Yes. I don't have long so just listen, stuff is going down at SHIELD. If you are in a SHIELD facility you have to get out now. Okay?" Kate said.

"What?" Darcy asked in confusion. "Kate? Kate what's happening at SHIELD? Kate?"

But the other end was silent.

"Shit." Darcy swore.

"Darcy?" Jane asked. "What's happening?"

"We have to get out of here." Darcy replied.

"What? Why?" Jane asked, looking round at the lab.

"I don't know. Kate said shit was going down at SHIELD and we have to get out." Darcy grabbed her bag and started towards the door.

"That's it?" Jane asked, running to catch up. "That's all she said?"

"There wasn't time; I heard gun shots at the other end of the line." Darcy was trying to walk quickly down the halls without looking like she was running.

Jane was right next to her. "Where was she?"

"I don't know, she was in Washington last time I spoke to her." Darcy replied. She'd met Kate when they worked at the SHIELD facility in New Mexico but she worked undercover for SHIELD and moved wherever she was needed.

Darcy and Jane however were still in England, researching the residual energy from the planetary alignments.

Or more specifically they were in the London SHIELD research facility.

"We can't just abandon the research!" Jane protested.

"Oh yeah let's stay here even though agent thirteen told us not to just so we can protect some research." Darcy rolled her eyes dramatically. "How many times do I have to tell you I am not dying in the name of science?"

"Who said anything about dying?" Jane asked.

"In the three years we have known Kate has she ever phoned one of us to tell us we need to get out of SHIELD? No. You can stay if you want but I trust her." Darcy said.

Unsurprisingly Jane continued to follow her.

Darcy felt a twinge of guilt. Jane was insane but Darcy knew how much that research meant to her.

"It's not like we'll be gone forever, just until this mess gets cleared up." Darcy said in an attempt to be comforting.

"All SHIELD employees please report to Staff Area A." The intercom blared above her.

Jane sent Darcy a worried look.

"Well," Darcy tried. "Technically we aren't SHIELD employees."

"We need to get out of here quickly." Jane said.

Darcy nodded, hand going to her bag to pull her taser out. It never hurt to be prepared, right?

They reached the bottom of the stairs, the door that led out of the facility to their right.

Darcy's stomach clenched. The door seemed ominous and she instinctively clutched the taser harder.

Around them people were wandering out of labs in confusion, the kind of scientists who lived at work and rarely ventured out.

Or as Darcy liked to call them: the kind of lame scientists who didn't have an awesome, hot, fun intern. Jane was so lucky.

Darcy turned the handle to outside.

"What are you doing?" A man in SHIELD uniform asked outside. He held a long gun diagonally across his body, not aimed at them but held as though that could change in an instant.

Darcy flicked her taser at him and pressed the button before she was even aware of what she was doing.

"Darcy!" Jane yelled, eyes wide in horror.

She'd stunned a SHIELD officer. She was in soooo much trouble.

"Forget that!" Darcy yelled. "Run!"

They sprinted away from the building, adrenaline rushing in their veins. The fact SHIELD had been surrounded had made them both terrified that they would be pursued. Neither Jane nor Darcy were especially fit so they both desperately hoped no one was following them.

People on the street stared at them oddly but they were too busy running to care. Someone wolf-whistled them and Darcy didn't even stick her middle finger up at them.

_See Jane, I can prioritise_, she thought.

They'd run for about ten minutes before Darcy physically couldn't anymore. She collapsed against the side of a building gasping for air. Each breath burned in her lungs and she had so many stitches she didn't know which one hurt morest.

She almost had war time flashbacks of the bleep test in high school.

Jane who was equally out of breath stopped next to her, hands on her knees and gasping.

Once Darcy had some more oxygen in her system, she lifted her head to look around. The area of London they were in wasn't familiar but at least they weren't obviously being followed.

It was the kind of area where every butcher was halal and every other shop was a polish delicatessen.

Darcy seriously loved London. You could go from the SHIELD research centre surrounded by glass and chrome sky scrapers to somewhere like this just by walking (or in their case running). The majority of the shops were closed with corrugated metal shutters over the front, covered in graffiti, that weren't even bothering with 'For Sale' signs anymore.

"Jane." Darcy said, mouth gaping as she stared at a small cafe opposite.

"What?" Jane asked, head snapping up at Darcy's tone.

"Look at that TV." She said.

The cafe had a small TV in the corner of it showing BBC news. Which was currently showing live footage of Captain America battling helicarriers.

"Is that Steve?" Jane asked in shock.

Darcy slumped against the wall. "Holy shit."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean SHIELD are closing down?" Jane demanded on the phone a few days later.<p>

Darcy looked up from her game of candy crush. It had been a few days since their mad run from SHIELD. They were staying with Jane's mom in England. They knew it wasn't a very secret place but it was better than their SHIELD given house.

"What the hell does that even mean? 'Disbanded due to internal corruption?' What do you mean that's classified? Classified by whom because SHIELD doesn't exist anymore apparently." Jane fumed.

Jane began pacing. It was a good thing her mom was out because Darcy could tell Jane was on the edge of swearing.

Darcy texted Kate.

_'Can you explain this whole SHIELD disbanded thing? How is that at all a good idea?'_ Darcy sent.

"So where are we supposed to work?...Yes but if another company are buying the research facility they are hardly going to let me keep doing my research there without being signed on." _And they wouldn't let her intern stay either_, Darcy thought. "No it is not my problem, it is yours. You can't just put people out of jobs!...Hello? Hello!"

Jane slammed her phone down on the table.

"Dude, careful. That's an iPhone. It'll break." Darcy said, barely looking up.

"I don't care." Jane snapped. "Shield is disbanded, we need to find somewhere to do research."

"What about with STARK?" Darcy asked. "You could probably just name drop Thor and he'd let us work there."

"Every single SHIELD employee will be going straight to STARK Industries. I'm not making Stark even more powerful than he already is." Jane said. "And besides, we need to stay in England."

Darcy sighed. "Don't tell me we're reverting to doing science out of your bedroom."

"I don't see what other choice we have." Jane said angrily. "Why on Earth are they disbanding SHIELD? That's the worst idea ever."

"Steve came to an agreement with Fury that once they sorted Hydra out they'd shut down SHIELD. He disagreed with the invasion of privacy SHIELD worked with." Darcy read.

"How do you know that?" Jane demanded.

Darcy waved her phone at her. "Kate texted."

She wasn't even particularly close with Kate but she'd been texting her for answers a lot recently.

They'd found out Hydra were the corrupt party yesterday. Darcy had been confused. She thought that was some world war two thing that was definitely over by now.

"In which case they change their policies a bit, they don't get rid of the entire agency!" Jane said. "Do you know how much more crime there's going to be?"

"They'll probably replace it with a similar yet 'completely different' government agency. Called SWORD or something." Darcy said.

Jane shook her head. "I don't think they will, Darcy. They're selling off all the companies and everything. And besides, SHIELD was above the government, it wasn't confined to one country. This...this is big."

Oh well, Darcy thought. In her opinion it was stupid to get rid of SHIELD but it wasn't like it affected her that much. She didn't work for them just with them. Not that she got paid...

"I can't believe the others let him do this. Do you know how much stuff they're saying about people like Clint and Natasha? I don't know what's real and what isn't. I mean that stuff about Budapest? No way _that_ happened. All of it's public now. I mean, if we didn't have confirmation it was Steve I would have said it was The Rising Tide or something." Jane continued.

"What's Banner doing?" Darcy asked. "He was a scientist at a SHIELD facility as well, right?"

They'd had to work with him a few times, them needing his help on radiation and he needing Jane's knowledge of astrophysics, even though that was only one of her three degrees.

"I spoke to him yesterday, he's going to lay low for a while. I think he was kind of relieved to get away from SHIELD for a bit." Jane replied.

Darcy's phone started to vibrate in her hands. She frowned as she saw it was another blocked number.

"Hello?" She asked.

"We must speak to Dr Foster." A cold voice said.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at the phone. "Can I ask who is calling?"

"We shall explain that to Dr Foster."

"Then phone her." Darcy replied.

"Put her on the phone. Now." The voice demanded.

Darcy was tempted to just press the end call button but her curiosity over why they were phoning Jane- particularly in such a demanding way- was too great.

Frowning in confusion at Jane, she passed over her phone.

"Hello? Dr Foster speaking." Jane said.

Darcy couldn't hear what was being said but Jane visibly paled.

"I'm not interested." She said in a voice that was evidently trying to be calm.

The voice obviously continued speaking. Jane listened for a moment. "I appreciate the offer but I'm fine."

Then she hung up the phone and returned it with a shaky hand.

"So who was that?" Darcy asked, attempting to sound casual.

Jane opened her mouth to open but the sound of the doorbell ringing sounded through the room.

Jane looked startled, turning to face Darcy who had immediately turned to grab her taser which she never kept very far from her these days. Right now it was slipped down the side of her boot.

Jane smiled slightly in amusement. "If it were Hydra I don't think they'd ring the doorbell."

Darcy ignored her and moved to the side of the door as Jane opened it.

"Jane!" Thor greeted as he entered, moving to hug her.

"Thor." Jane said back, melting against him.

Darcy put her taser back in her boot and made gagging motions as they kissed.

"Oh stop." Jane said to her as she pulled away, smiling and looking slightly bashful. She turned back to Thor. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a few days."

"I was dealing with a quarrel on Alfheim. When I returned Heimdall informed me of what had happened and I harkened to the Allfather immediately." Thor said.

"Odin?" Jane asked. "What's he got to do with this?"

"Tell me Jane," Thor said. "Has anyone contacted you?"

Jane paled once more and Darcy recalled the weird phone call she'd received before Thor had arrived.

Thor nodded solemnly. "I thought as much. What did they say?"

"They offered me a job." Jane said. "Scientific research."

"Wait," Darcy said. "Why is that bad?"

"It was not research that was necessarily legal." Jane said evasively.

"Oh." Darcy replied.

Jane wrung her hands together nervously. "I mean I told them I wasn't interested. It'll be fine."

Darcy wasn't convinced, it sounded more like Jane was trying to calm herself down. She didn't quite believe it was 'offering' as 'demanding' given their demanding tone.

"Why'd you go to Odin?" Darcy asked.

"I have heard SHIELD has dispersed." Thor said and they nodded. "With no one to protect you I feared others would contact you, either for your own scientific skills or as leverage against me."

"So Odin?" Jane asked.

Thor grinned so broadly Darcy had to resist the urge to smile herself. He was like a giant puppy.

"It is all arranged. To protect you both, the Allfather has consented to allow you to reside in Asgard."

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title and lyrics from The Swarm by You Me At Six. Yeah I apologise for the pretentious start and song lyrics but it is Ragnarok so it needs to be big and pretentious. I guess this isn't so much the first chapter as it is a prologue but yeah. <em>

_Please review._


	2. Chapter 2: She Might Just Runaway

Darcy lifted her phone up while she waited for her mom to answer.

"Darcy!" Her mom practically sang as she answered. Her mom insisted on video calls, so Darcy could see that she'd recently dyed her hair to a lighter blonde.

"Hey mom," Darcy replied. "I like your hair."

"Thanks honey," Her mom said, twirling a strand around her finger. Darcy could see the tip of her mom's t-shirt, and saw that it was one she wore for morning yoga.

It would be eight in the morning in California, so she must have just finished. Her work didn't start until ten.

"So, how's London?" Her mom asked.

"Wet." Darcy replied. "I miss America."

"Only because you've only ever lived in California or New Mexico, if you lived in Washington you'd be saying it's shockingly dry over there." Her mom joked, smiling.

She was smiling a lot, she'd probably had work done to her teeth, but Darcy couldn't really see in the phone's small screen.

"Any guys?" Her mom asked.

Darcy shrugged. "Just one. I went out with this guy Ian for like a week."

"Darcy Veronica Lewis-"

"Mom," Darcy whinged. "Don't middle name me."

Her mom giggled. "But Veronica is so funny."

"Then you shouldn't have let dad give me it!" Darcy replied, sobering her mom slightly. Her dad had died a few years ago. Her mom wasn't quite over it yet.

Her mom swallowed slightly. "Yes well, as I was saying, do you know how many people would pay- have paid- for breasts like yours and the good Lord graced you with them for free! At least use them! You're in England, get someone hot!"

Darcy rolled her eyes. Her mom was ridiculous. She was kind of the stereotypical Californian woman, with her blonde hair and plastic surgery, the fundraisers she went to, her bitchy group of friends and the lack of filters in her mind. However, she was also Dr Caroline Lewis, one of the world's leading experts in microbiology.

It was very difficult to distinguish them in her mind, especially when she spoke like this.

"Yeah well, I guess I'll try harder in the next place, that's what I was phoning to tell you." Darcy said.

"You're moving somewhere else?" She asked.

"Yeah, Norway." Darcy said. "It's just that we're working in quite a remote part and I don't know how easy it'll be to phone and stuff."

"Do you want me to transfer you more money?" She asked. Her mom had been very keen for her to go into science, and Darcy suspected she'd played a large role in making it so that she was the only applicant for the internship with Jane. As such, she had beaten Darcy down whenever she'd suggested leaving to get an actual job by saying she'd pay her a salary (about four times what the average university graduate could expect) if she stayed.

"No I'm fine." Darcy said, it wasn't like they'd need money in Asgard.

"Okay well, have fun. Phone me when you get there if you can." Her mom said. Darcy said her goodbyes and hung up.

She sighed as she looked at her torn apart bedroom.

She'd had to pack in a hurry, which meant she had to find everything. Darcy wasn't exactly organised.

She grabbed her suitcase and ran out of her room, feeling sorry for Jane's mom having to tidy it. Still, it wasn't like she had time to clean it herself, she'd barely had time to phone her mom.

"Have you phoned your mother?" Jane's mom asked in concern.

"Yep, thanks for letting us stay Mrs. Foster." Darcy said.

"Any time dear." Jane's mom responded, before turning to her daughter who was standing next to Thor. Jane's mom still hadn't quite been able to accept that her daughter was dating the God of Thunder, but she was nice to him nonetheless. "Have fun and be safe."

Jane hugged her mom, and before Darcy knew what was happening she was being whisked out of the door, her bulging suitcase ramming into the backs of her ankles.

"Ready?" Thor asked as they stood in the garden.

_No_, Darcy thought.

But Thor had barely grasped her hand, before she felt herself being dragged upwards. It was like a rollercoaster rocketing upwards, but a hundred times faster, the skin on her face being dragged back and she could only imagine the state her hair would be in.

And then they landed. Darcy staggered forwards.

"Holy shit," She said, staring at the room. It was made entirely of gold, yet none of it was blinding. The gold was carved with intricate runes and looking out Darcy saw the kind of colourful space you saw in pictures, but couldn't really believe existed when you looked up at the dark night sky. "That was awesome, can we go again?" She asked Thor, grinning.

Thor chuckled. Darcy didn't think she'd ever heard anyone chuckle before but there really wasn't another way to describe Thor's laugh.

"Perhaps another day." Thor said.

"Welcome to Asgard." Someone else said, their voice low and deep.

Darcy turned to see a man entirely dressed in gold armour, the same colour as the walls. His eyes were also gold and glittered with knowledge beyond anything she had ever seen before, like he had seen the world and known everything in it.

"Darcy, this is Heimdall," Thor said, Jane obviously having encountered him before.

"'Sup." She greeted.

His head tilted slightly as though perplexed, and Darcy bit her lip to stop from laughing. She couldn't help but think of the amount of people who would have been better suited to visiting Asgard; those with decorum and manners...aka boring people. Darcy would definitely enjoy it a lot more.

"The Allfather awaits you." Heimdall informed Thor.

Thor nodded his thanks, and they left.

Darcy gasped. It was one thing to see the Bifröst but this was something else. It was like rainbow road from Mario Kart or something.

She was standing on pure light, the colours swirling beneath her feet. The rainbow stretched, suspended in pure darkness until it reached a city straight out of a sci-fi film. Intricate buildings stretched miles to the sky, twisting and twirling in ways no human architect could achieve. She half expected to see hover cars.

Darcy suddenly felt very small, standing on the bridge with nothing but her suitcase.

"Thor!" A voice bellowed, and Darcy saw several figures on horses thundering down the bridge.

Darcy recognised them as Sif, Fandral and Volstagg and remembered them from when they visited Thor.

"We thought you may appreciate a quicker journey." Volstagg said as they stopped in front of us.

They'd brought a spare horse along with them, which Darcy supposed must have been Thor's.

"Thank you." He nodded, going to his horse and pulling Jane up behind him.

"Lady Darcy," Fandral nodded. "A pleasure to see you again. Would you care to ride with me?"

An excuse to unashamedly hug Fandral? Yes!

Darcy shrugged. "It's better than walking."

Fandral smiled, and gave her his hand to pull her up.

Darcy wrapped her arms around him. Volstagg had attached their luggage to his horse.

In unison, they began galloping down the bridge.

They were moving much faster than horses on Earth, so Darcy had to curl against Fandral, using him to shield her from the snapping wind.

Not that she was complaining. She could practically feel his muscles through his shirt.

Before Darcy knew it they were at the Asgardian palace. Fandral hopped down from the horse and helped her down.

"You know, if you wished simply to hug me you had only need ask." Fandral said with a grin.

"My wishes go far beyond hugging." Darcy smiled flirtatiously. What? Fandral was hot, okay?

His grin widened slightly. "I shall see you tonight."

"Okay, that was so not an invitation." Darcy said, slightly startled. One flirtatious joke, and he was taking it as an opportunity to get in her bed? Were all Asgardians like that?

Fandral laughed. "I meant at the banquet tonight, though I would not protest too much at the alternative either."

"Banquet? Is that before or after the jousting competition?" Darcy asked.

"Okay, Darcy," Jane said, grabbing her arm. "We need to go see Odin."

Darcy glared at Jane as she dragged her away from Fandral. Could she not see that Darcy was very much enjoying Asgard so far?

"Dude!" Darcy protested.

"The last thing we need upon arrival in Asgard, is you winding up in bed with Fandral." Jane said.

"The last thing _we_ need maybe, but the first thing _I_ need." Darcy replied.

"_Darcy._" Jane warned. "He is _the_ player of Asgard."

"Then he'll know what he's doing then, won't he? I'm not looking to date the guy. I just want hot sex with an Asgardian Robin Hood." Darcy replied.

Jane opened her mouth to protest again when Thor cut in. "My father awaits, perhaps this is a conversation best suited for afterwards?"

Darcy stuck her tongue out at Jane who rolled her eyes in response. Sometimes they were respectable co-workers...more often than not they were irritated siblings.

"You're sure he is fine with us being here?" Jane asked. Darcy could understand her anxiety, after all Odin had called her a goat. She went on about it almost as much as Tony Stark mentioned being defenestrated by Loki.

"He readily accepted it, Jane." Thor said gently. "His attitude has changed somewhat since my mother's...sacrifice."

Darcy looked away kind of awkwardly, she would usually make a joke that would probably be inappropriate and somewhat offensive at this point but she felt like she couldn't really do that to Thor. It would be like kicking a puppy.

"Shall we go in then?" Darcy asked as Jane reassuringly squeezed Thor's hand.

Thor nodded and led them to two large doors that reminded Darcy of the entrance to Hogwarts.

Two guards stood in front of it, and promptly opened the doors.

Darcy could tell immediately that she was not seeing the throne room in its height of grandeur. Many of the columns had collapsed, and the marble was cracked in many places. Even so it was one of the most regal places she had ever seen, every single aspect was decorated with intricate detail so the whole thing looked impressive and intimidating. At the other end in a large throne sat Odin.

Darcy tried not to think about what she knew of Odin. She had to admit she wasn't a fan. He'd kicked Thor out of his home and stripped him of his powers and everything, clearly not caring what happened to him. He was hit by a car the moment he arrived, for crying out loud, and yet he'd raised Thor so if he was somewhat arrogant and self-entitled-surely that was partly Odin's fault?

And she was still a bit hazy on what had happened with Loki. He obviously had to take responsibility for his own actions but was it a coincidence that Thor and Loki had both at one point in their lives been genocide-loving maniacs?

And then of course he'd been rude to Jane, and it was no secret that he disapproved of Thor's relationship with her.

But then, he was offering them refuge, so it would probably help if she didn't hate him too much.

There were guards on either side of Odin, and one was very good looking- God she was going to be so horny on Asgard- so that helped distract her a bit.

The other guard was staring straight ahead, but the hot one was looking at them somewhat curiously. Clearly they rarely had mortals here.

"Thor." Odin greeted before turning to Jane. "Miss Foster..." Dude, Darcy thought, Jane did not get those degrees for nothing. "I would like to apologise for your treatment when you were last here. As recompense, I offer you a place here at Asgard for as long as it is needed."

Jane simply nodded, which Darcy was impressed by.

Odin turned to her. "And you are Miss Foster's servant?"

"Intern." Darcy corrected, unable to stop her eyes from narrowing.

"Darcy was very hospitable during my stay on Midgard, father." Thor said. "She also aided greatly in the battle against the Dark Elves." Not really, she'd planted some of Jane's stick things, and attempted to not get herself killed. She'd also made out a bit...She cringed slightly as she remembered Ian. He'd wanted things that were far too serious, and had become far too clingy. Guess that's what she got for impulsive snogging (as he called it) though it wasn't like she'd hired him as an intern in the first place because she needed the help. "You agreed also to allow her the same treatment as Jane."

Odin nodded. "And your purpose?" He asked.

"Umm, to make Jane look better by comparison?" Darcy suggested, unsure of what he wanted.

She saw the hot guard smirk, and kind of wanted to punch him. She'd like to see how he did in front of a king of a world he'd never visited. Embarrassment aside however, his smirk did not seem cruel but rather amused.

"To aid Jane in her research of our world." Thor said, jumping to her rescue again.

"Very well. In addition to your stay, you may have access to anything you require. To officially welcome you, I invite you to a formal banquet this evening. Thor will, I am sure, show you the palace." He said which they all took as a dismissal.

The moment they were out the door, Darcy let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "Well, that was quick." She said.

"And a good thing too." Jane said, leaning against the wall. "That was so awkward."

"Awkward for you, embarrassing for me." Darcy said.

"How can you be embarrassed by that and not by half the things that you say?" Jane asked.

"Rude." Darcy replied.

"Why don't you follow me?" Thor interrupted.

Jane was obviously staying in the same room, as Thor so Thor led Darcy to her room first.

Basically, it was huge. As in bigger than Jane's mom's flat huge. The bed was bigger than king size and it had every single aspect of furniture ever invented in there: a table and chairs, armoire, chest of drawers, a trunk, a vanity desk, cabinets, cupboards...all of it elaborately carved in shades in dark wood. The fabrics were all cream.

Darcy was scared to touch anything.

When she checked out the bathroom, it reminded her more of fountains in ancient Greece than a bathroom. She hadn't seen that much marble in her life.

Her suitcase looked rather tatty in the middle of such a luxurious room.

"Is there anything else you need?" Thor asked.

Darcy saw that his hand kept inching towards Jane and she knew that he was clearly looking forwards to showing Jane his room...and given that she'd already seen it she could only imagine what they'd be doing instead.

Ewww, she needed company, third wheeling was really not fun.

"I'm good." She said.

"The feast will be held in an hour." He told her.

Shit, so soon? She hadn't realised just what the time was, it had been a very long day that felt like several.

"See you then." She said. Thor and Jane left, and she looked round the room. Jane and Thor may have been trying out Thor's bed, but she would have to spend the time getting ready if she hoped for similar activities tonight.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Runaways by The Killers. Thank you all for the lovely reviews, wasn't expecting so many just from the first chapter. I promise I shall get to Loki soon. <em>

_Please review. _


	3. Chapter 3: No Montagues or Capulets

Darcy hadn't quite realised what a problem she would have until she opened her suitcase.

The problem was this: knitwear.

Darcy had a lot. Sweaters, scarves, gloves...you name it, if it was made from yarn Darcy probably owned it.

Much to her mother's dismay, Darcy enjoyed covering up her figure with comfortable clothes, and she'd been living in England where even in summer, the temperature rarely warranted anything less than a cardigan.

And it had been spring, and whatever season it was here- even if they had seasons- it was pleasantly warm. And besides, her wardrobe was hardly appropriate for a...what was it Odin had called it? A 'formal banquet'?

She didn't quite know what was appropriate for an Asgardian Formal Banquet, but she doubted her knitwear made the cut.

She tore her clothes out of her suitcase, not bothering that she was throwing them on the floor because she'd thrown them into the suitcase in the first place.

Someone knocked at the door as Darcy pulled out a purple skater dress. It was the most formal thing she had brought with her and it barely passed into the I-am-going-out-in-public-so-should-look-presentable category. And screw fitting into the dress code, her clothes weren't going to help get certain good looking Asgardians in her pants either.

"Yeah?" She called, wondering who it was.

"My lady," A woman said, Darcy turned to see a young girl in a simple dress standing at the door. "I have been assigned your handmaiden."

"My what-now?" Darcy asked.

"Handmaiden." The woman blushed.

Darcy felt kind of guilty, it may be odd for her but it wasn't this girl's responsibility to explain Asgard's customs to her.

"My lady-"

"Darcy." Darcy interrupted. Asgardian customs or not, that was a bit far. "Please call me Darcy."

"Oh, very well," The woman blushed again, ducking her head. Her blond hair was tied up, though Darcy got the impression she would rather be hiding behind it. "There are clothes in the wardrobe."

"Clothes?" Darcy asked. "For me?"

"Yes, they were made especially, my- Darcy." The woman said.

"But like my measurements?" Darcy asked, she didn't exactly have your average tall and athletic Asgardian build.

"All arranged." The woman seemed to gain confidence and walked to the wardrobe. "These would be deemed appropriate for tonight." She pulled three gowns out from the end.

Darcy gaped. She hadn't expected this.

Given that two of them were incredibly puffy, she reached for the third. It was dark green, not a colour she usually went for because normally, if green was available blue was too, and that matched her eyes a lot better.

It was simple at the front, a round neckline and fitted to her body, the kind that would gently fall straight to the floor. The back however was a mesh of green beads, making the dress just sexy enough that she would feel confident flirting, but not too revealing that she ended up praying for a sweater.

Darcy turned to the woman, but she looked at her expectantly so Darcy just shrugged and pulled her clothes off. The woman who blushed at being asked to call her Darcy, didn't so much as blink, so Darcy assumed this was normal. Her entire experience of handmaidens was based on Game of Thrones.

Which meant her handmaiden was probably having a secret affair with Thor whilst plotting to become queen of Asgard...

Darcy pulled herself from that train of thought.

Her handmaiden- Erika, Darcy discovered her name was- insisted on doing her hair and make-up. She was shy, and while at first scandalised by Darcy's dirty sense of humour, soon relaxed slightly and joined in. Darcy assumed then that such innuendo making was not considered socially acceptable an Asgard.

This could be amusing then.

Darcy frowned at herself in the mirror. She looked really nice, but she wished she could cut the dress at the knees. Being short and curvy, maxi dresses had never really suited her.

And apparently heels did not exist in Asgard, because they were sensible and had not conditioned their men to believe forms of foot torture made legs look attractive.  
>When she was done, Erika showed her to the room where the banquet was being held. Darcy internally cringed every time it was called that because it just sounded so ridiculous.<p>

"Aren't you coming?" Darcy asked as Erika stopped.

Erika blushed again slightly, and shook her head. "It would not be appropriate for someone of my class."

"Oh." Darcy said sadly. Point one for Asgard for condemning heels, but apparently it was rather elitest.

The one friend she'd made was too working class to come. And now Darcy was annoyed.

"So should I wait for you to prepare you for bed, or will you be engaged with...certain warriors." Erika smirked.

Darcy laughed. "Hopefully, but if not I can get myself ready for bed anyway, thanks."

Erika left, and Darcy entered the room.

It was huge, with rows of tables where rowdy people were sat.

"Darcy!" Volstagg called, gesturing for her to join where he was sat with Sif and Fandral. Thor and Jane weren't there yet.

She walked over and Fandral stood up when he reached them. "You look lovely." He said, taking her hand and placing it to his lips.

Darcy bit her lip. Fandral may have just gone from hot to ridiculous. That was kind of a shame. Oh well, she'd probably bang him anyway...you know just to check.

And she hadn't had sex since Ian, who had been vastly inexperienced, so it would be nice to do it with someone who knew what to do...and what not to do.

Darcy slid in next to him.

"I see the two lovebirds are still in their nest." Fandral said.

"In the nest?" Darcy asked. "I think at the rate they're going they're probably rolling on the floor by now."

Fandral and Volstagg laughed, while Sif looked slightly disapproving though she did smile slightly. A nearby person looked rather scandalised. Darcy didn't know whether to be irritated or amused by the fact Asgardians found women making sex jokes inappropriate. Then again it may not be appropriate banquet conversation for anyone but Fandral had started it.

"I have never seen Thor this enraptured by a woman before." Fandral said. "It is rather disconcerting."

"Oh, let him have his fun." Volstagg said, waving away Fandral's comment and reaching for a turkey leg. At least Darcy assumed it was turkey.

Darcy reached for food too, suddenly ravenously hungry. It was so good she soon found herself shoving every morsel into her mouth.

"Perhaps you are just jealous." Sif suggested.

"Me? Jealous?" Fandral scoffed. "I could have any-"

Darcy raised her eyebrows at him and he stopped. Volstagg and Sif laughed and after a moment Fandral and Darcy joined in too.

Around ten minutes later, Thor and Jane appeared- both looking a tad too dishevelled to have spent the whole time that they had been without Darcy getting ready.

Even so, Jane still managed to look like an Asgardian princess in her blue dress.

After a few more plates and quite a few more drinks of ale, Darcy found herself in a debate with Fandral.

"Because it's wrong!" She protested. "People shouldn't have their entire life decided by where they are born."

"But without people ruling and people in serving positions, nothing would get done." He argued back.

"Yeah, but the level here is ridiculous. Why can't you get yourselves dressed? And anyone should have the ability to rule or serve depending on things like attitude and intelligence and hard work, not who they are born to." Darcy said.

"But that wouldn't actually work!" Fandral said.

Darcy sighed and gave up. Of all the people to argue this with, Fandral was probably not the best place to start.

"Let's dance." She suggested instead, dragging him to the dance area.

The orchestra wasn't exactly playing the latest Now That's What I Call Music CD, but being slightly tipsy as she was, and let's be honest- being Darcy as she was, that didn't matter. She wanted to dance so she would.

Fandral slipped a hand round her waist and put a hand into hers, and started whisking her around. After two seconds, she almost fell over.

"Whoa! Dude!" She stopped him. "I am not quite at your waltzing level yet."

"This is a simple dance." He frowned.

"Yeah, for the people who have spent the last millennia practicing." Darcy pointed out. "Some of us are limited to the cha cha slide and slut drops."

"What?" He asked, confused and clearly slightly irritated, though he was trying not to show it.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Never mind." She said dully, before walking to a different part of the hall. She found an empty bench and sat down, wondering whether or not she should have another drink.

"Your dancing leaves a lot to be desired." A voice said dryly.

"Yeah well, just you wait until they start playing the Macarena, I'll be killing it out there." She replied before looking up. "Oh it's you." She said as she recognised the hot guard.

"Me?" He asked as though wondering how he could be significant enough to be remembered.

"You were on guard for Odin earlier." Darcy said, a slight smile crossing her face. "And you were a dick."

One of his eyebrows rose. From this close Darcy could see that he had captivating, clear green eyes that she had to force herself to look away from. "How so?" He asked.

"You were amused by what I said to Odin." Darcy said. "And you weren't very good at hiding it."

"I am unused to people talking to the Allfather like that...it was entertaining at the very least." He said. "He is used to people treating him with revered respect, I feel he was unsure how to handle you."

"Yeah well he wouldn't be the first one." Darcy said. "Is that why you came over here? To taunt me about how I unsettled Odin?"

"I believe you brought the topic up. If I were to say anything about that it would be to offer my congratulations." The guard pointed out. "But no, I wished to speak to you."

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

He smiled slightly. "As I said, Odin seemed unsure how to handle you. Anyone that unnerving is clearly worth talking to."

"Uh thanks?" Darcy asked, unsure as to whether that was an insult or not.

"And you are mortal." The guard pointed out. "And I admit I have always been intrigued about Midgard."

"Really?" She asked. "I was under the impression most Asgardians thought they were above us."

He smiled in a way that gave Darcy the impression she was missing part of a joke only he understood. "Now what sort of person would think such a thing?"

"Odin for one." Darcy said.

The guard looked at her appraisingly. "Do you know how often I hear someone voice a criticism of Odin?"

"Um never? Because he'd yell 'off with their heads!'?" Darcy suggested.

The guard laughed. "No, because most people are blinded by expectations of royalty. They see what they expect to. Yet you are here less than a day, and see more truth to Odin than the majority of the population of Asgard combined."

Darcy felt colour rising up her cheeks for some reason. It wasn't like she hadn't been complimented before, but normally they were based on looks or her humour...but on seeing truth? That seemed more intelligence based and that was a first.

"Well, most of Asgard is blinded by everything," Darcy muttered bitterly. "Everyone seems content with how things are, and it's so elitist and wrong. Sorry...you probably don't want to hear, it's just I was a political science student, so I guess I just can't help but see the more problematic aspects of societies and governments."

"Despite what many Asgardians would have you believe, Asgard is far from perfect." The guard said bitterly. "Anytime anyone attempts to change something, it is promptly crushed."

"I guess that's the problem with being immortal, anti-change or whatever." Darcy said.

The guard nodded before pausing a moment. "May I ask why you left Midgard?"

Darcy frowned. "You heard earlier, we're researching-"

"No, I am aware of that." The guard interrupted. "I rather meant why you left Midgard, as opposed to what you are here in Asgard for." Darcy looked confused so he carried on. "Forgive me, given my position I hear a lot that I should not. I understand there were some problems on Midgard, and I was curious as to what those were."

He was looking at her intently and Darcy really did believe he was genuinely interested.

"There was this terrorist group that infiltrated a branch of our government called SHIELD." Darcy saw a quick flash of recognition cross his face, and supposed he must have been really interested in Earth to know what SHIELD was. "It was stopped, but it had kind of poisoned the heart of SHIELD so it was disbanded. My friend Jane and I do scientific research and we were protected by SHIELD, with them gone we were in danger so we came here."

"SHIELD is gone?" He clarified.

Darcy nodded. "How do you know about SHIELD?"

"I heard them speaking of it." He said distractedly.

"Are you okay?" Darcy asked.

He seemed to snap back to reality and smiled at her. "Yes. It was a pleasure talking to you, Miss Lewis. I hope to have an opportunity to speak to you again soon."

"Wait what's your name?" Darcy asked but he'd already stopped and left.

Darcy couldn't help but smile, it had only been a short conversation but it was nice to know someone else wasn't oblivious to the faults of Asgard.

"Lady Darcy," Fandral said, smiling as he returned to her. "I was looking for you."

"Oh sorry, I was talking to one of the guards." Darcy said.

To her surprise Fandral frowned. "One of the guards?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked, sensing something was wrong.

"The guards are not supposed to be here. They are meant simply to guard the doors." He said.

Once again, Darcy felt annoyance at the casual acceptance of everyone having their place. She knew Fandral meant no harm by it, having been raised in such a society, he probably saw nothing wrong with it. Like how Darcy didn't realise how wrong it was having such easy access to guns in America, until she went to Canada and didn't see a single gun the entire time, like not even the local gun-obsessed granny in the supermarket.

But equally, it wasn't like the guard had lived outside of Asgard either.

Darcy wished she was talking to him instead of Fandral.

Fandral's brown-green eyes made her miss the bright ones of the guard.

Darcy stopped herself. She wasn't going to be one of those people who meets two hot guys and then compares them non-stop.

It was fairly obvious which one to go for anyway. One was interested by her because of her culture and species. One was interested because they were attracted to her, and slightly baffled by her flirtatious innuendos. Sif had explained at dinner that Asgardian women essentially usually played hard to get. And it was nice that she didn't say it with disdain either. Sif had always struck Darcy as one of those girls who would have a superiority complex by virtue of her subversion of gender norms, but it turns out she was actually quite respectful of everyone's choices- just judgemental in their taste of Fandral.

No, it didn't take a genius to figure out which guy she should focus on- especially for one night- and yet her mind wandered to the guard anyway.

"Would you care for another drink?" He asked.

Darcy started to say no, but then decided there was nothing wrong with having a fun night out, so she quickly drained another ale.

They returned to the others, where she sat next to Fandral, but leaning against him, until eventually she ended up on his lap.

They played a game that involved a weird dice shaped like a cuboid with three to six on the long sides, and one on the short sides. Darcy didn't really understand the game.

But she did discover that Fandral was a reasonably skilled kisser.

By pure chance of course.

And everyone, even Jane and Thor, were so drunk by the time Darcy and Fandral started making out, that she was sure no one would remember anyway.

But it didn't get any further than just kissing, for which she was very sure Erika would be upset about – apparently most girls in Asgard had a crush on Fandral.

Darcy had enjoyed it, but she was kind of happy it didn't go much further. If Fandral was a player, then she didn't want to have her one night with him then never get anything again. No, she'd draw it out for as long as she could.

When she stumbled back to her room, all she could think of was that this morning she'd been on Midgard, no wait Earth, worrying about what they were going to do about the lack of a laboratory. Now she was in Asgard, and thinking that between the food and the hot guys like Fandral and the guard, this might be quite a nice place to live after all.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor (totally not mocking you, Darcy) by Arctic Monkeys. Sorry, I know these chapters are quite short but I don't want to be dragging moments out. Anyway thanks for all of your reviews, they keep me writing. <em>

_Please review._


	4. Chapter 4: Keep The Town Alive

Darcy woke late the next day to dim sunlight streaming through the gaps in the curtains, which she had hastily pulled last night.

Erika had left clothes out for her, as well as a pitcher of water and plate of food. Darcy quickly drank the water. She didn't tend to get hangovers but she still had the thirst alcohol provides.

After taking one look at the casual gown Erika had left out Darcy returned to her suitcase. She didn't care if she got odd looks on Asgard, it would take a few more days for her to feel comfortable wearing Asgardian clothes.

Once she had bathed, eaten and dressed she left the room. The palace was huge, but luckily had a simple enough layout once Darcy got past how...well, _Norse_ everything was. Seriously, even the walls were carved with pictures and runes.

Speaking of which, now she would be with Thor for an indefinite period of time she could ask him about some of the myths. Everyone at SHIELD tended to focus more on Loki ones, understandably because they were pretty damn hilarious but Thor had his fair share of weird tales.

Darcy was unsure of where Jane would be. She knew that her friend really did want to study the natural laws and properties of Asgard but science was one of two loves, Thor being the other. Darcy didn't know which one would win out.

Darcy decided to explore the palace. She wanted to know where everything was, and more importantly she wanted to see everything. This wasn't just a palace, which would have been cool enough; it was a palace on another planet. And that meant rooms with purposes she'd never even heard of before.

But all of that was soon forgotten when she found the library. If it could be called that.

She felt her mouth gape like a cartoon character when she saw it. Row upon row of bookshelves, stretching to the ceiling high above. The shelves lined the walls with tables and chairs thrown randomly in the centre of the room. But the books...clearly Asgard had never heard of paperbacks. All of the books were large and thick, bound in dyed leather with ridges where the binding was secured.

Darcy didn't even know where to start.

After a second of just staring at the books she remembered the existence of Jane and Thor.

She was looking for them but...then she found pretty books. Heck she didn't even know if she'd be able to read them- were the letters the same? Were they even in English? But even if she couldn't she'd be perfectly happy to just stare at them.

And suddenly she was insanely jealous of Thor. He'd grown up here, with this...Darcy had to make do with piles of books when she'd run out of room on her bookshelf. And it was Thor...he'd probably never stepped foot in here.

Wait. It was Asgard. They weren't exactly into reading.

Right now the library was empty. Who exactly was it built for? Or was it an in-case-of-emergency type thing?

Thor, she reminded herself. But she promised herself she would come back. How could she not?

She practically lived in books, not classics though she'd tried a few, mainly fantasy or action. Anything with dragons preferably.

She felt a smile flit across her face. Maybe they had dragons in Asgard. She would have to enquire. And then she could become the Khaleesi she was born to be...

_Darcy focus_, she scolded herself.

Having no clue where to start, she asked one of the guards to point her in the direction of Thor's room. At least she could ascertain whether or not they were in there.

However when she arrived at the designated room the door was open and she could see some kind of servant changing the sheets.

Darcy frowned. Back to aimlessly wandering the palace then.

It took her maybe twenty minutes to find them. She accidentally wandered into the medical wing – yeah they had a whole wing, clearly lots of battle wounds. This of everything was perhaps the most Asgardian. The most different to Earth. And Darcy couldn't help but feel rather angry that they had all this advanced medical technology that Earth just didn't have access to. It wasn't like they couldn't have sent the knowledge down the Bifrost.

Anyway, Jane and Thor were in a room down there. Jane was crouched under a kind of table as though examining it while Thor stood watching, a smile of amused endearment spread lazily across his face.

"Okay, so I think I've got how it all works but I can't see what the power source is." Jane said.

Thor frowned. "Well, the soul forge is powered by the magic of the healers." He made it sound obvious.

"Ahhh, of course. Magic. Which I believe you said was science. So explain." Jane said.

Thor laughed. "It is indeed science, science far beyond my knowledge. Ask Loki-" Thor's smile immediately fell as he realised what he had said.

Darcy felt a twinge of sympathy for him. Regardless of whose actions were more idiotic over the years (umm Loki obviously) she felt like they'd both deserved a better relationship with each other.

And Jane had said Loki apologised as he was dying. Stupid Loki dying, and destroying the happiness of the Asgardian golden retriever.

"Uh hey," Darcy greeted to act as a distraction. Thankfully it worked.

"Darcy." Thor beamed. "How are you enjoying Asgard so far?"

"It's great, why did you not mention the amazing library?" Darcy demanded.

Thor smiled pointedly. "I believed you would be too busy with a certain member of the warriors three to venture in there."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like you can talk. I'm surprised you can both walk after you tested the abilities of your bedsprings. Although I'm more surprised you are in here, rather than still pushing them to their limits."

Jane smiled excitedly like she hadn't been paying attention to what Darcy had just said. Which in fairness she probably hadn't.

"Thor offered to show me around, and oh my God Darcy, it's so amazing I just...I could happily spend the rest of my life studying all of this." Jane said. "Like, look at this. It's an actual quantum field generator. These things literally only exist theoretically on Earth."

"Theoretical like my knowledge of quantum physics. Let's just pretend I understand. Do you need me to help you science, or can I go build a blanket fort in the library?" Darcy asked.

Jane smiled. "Nope, go forth and library."

It is quite possible that only dogs were able to hear the excited squeal that Darcy replied with.

* * *

><p>"What exactly are you doing?" Someone asked.<p>

Darcy looked up from her book. "I'm reading."

"I can see that, though I was not aware Midgardians could read." The hot guard said, an infuriating smirk on his face that made her want to grab his sandy hair and...wow she didn't think anything could distract her from that book but then enter hot guy. "I was referring to your position."

Darcy sat up, shuffling out from under the table. She was still looking up at him but heck it was a position she could happily get used to.

"Have you tried reading in these chairs?" She asked.

He smiled in that way of his that suggested he knew something she didn't, like he was reminded of some inside joke. "A few times." He said.

"Right well if my ass is going to hurt I'd rather it be from more enjoyable activities." She said.

He raised an eyebrow in judging amusement.

"And besides, does a comfortable reading position even exist?" She pondered.

"I tend to get too distracted from the books." He said. "Though if I may ask, if you are going to lie on the floor, why not move away from the table?"

Darcy shrugged. "It was effort, I was already sat there. And dude, it's amazing, there is no gum under there! I don't think there are any tables in public on Earth without gum."

He shook his head slightly as though amused. "You are easily impressed."

"I've been called worse." She said. "It's okay, I'm hot enough to get away with it."

"Hot?" He asked.

She stood up, her legs cramping. She didn't know how long she'd been down there but it had to be at least a couple of hours.

"Yeah, you know hot. Sexy. Attractive." She poked him playfully in the chest. "Makes you acutely aware of how warm a room is."

Okay so she was unashamedly flirting...her eyes fell to his jaw line. Bone structure was her weakness and damn...if only he had cheekbones to match.

"Ah," He smiled, looking at her in a way that made her want to strip on the spot before promptly tearing off his own clothes. "Well, you certainly garner that description. Especially in that gown you wore last night."

"The green one?"

The guard stepped closer. "I have always been somewhat fond of the colour."

Darcy trailed a light finger up his torso. "And what else are you fond of?"

"Darcy!" Fandral called, walking into the room smiling jovially. Darcy jumped away, feeling guilty, but also angry because she shouldn't have to feel guilty. "We have been looking for you, and Thor informed us you were in the library. I don't think anyone has been in here since Loki became impressively mad."

The guard turned to him, eyebrows raised challengingly.

Fandral seemed to notice him for the first time, and frowned. "You are not authorised to be in here."

The guard didn't seem to care. "I was talking to Miss Lewis."

"Really?" She turned to him. "You aren't supposed to be in here? Apparently you have a habit of turning up in places you aren't supposed to be."

"Oh," Fandral said in realisation. "This is the guard from last night." Fandral turned to him smiling. "You want to be careful, it would be awfully embarrassing to be dismissed for being in a library."

"I'll bear that in mind." The guard said, something Darcy couldn't identify in his voice. "Excuse me." He said before leaving.  
>Fandral turned to her. "We wished to invite you to the taverns tonight. You saw the formal side of Asgard last night. Perhaps you will enjoy to see the fun side tonight."<p>

"Yeah, sounds great." Darcy smiled though she was kind of annoyed his appearance meant the guard had left. "Who's going?"

"Volstagg, Sif and I. I asked Thor, but it seems I have been replaced as the best looking one in his life." He joked.

"Yeah well, come on, it was already ruined the moment he met me."

Fandral laughed at her joke, but Darcy certainly enjoyed the reaction of the guard a lot more. Fuck, and she still didn't know his name. She couldn't keep calling him the hot guard. If that smirk was anything to go by he was already arrogant enough.

Fandral looked at her. "You will have to wear something more traditionally Asgardian, however."

Darcy nodded, hoping whatever it was wasn't too puffy.

* * *

><p>"I do not understand the purpose of this game." Sif said.<p>

Darcy sighed. "It gets you drunk!"

"You may also get drunk, through simply drinking the ale." Volstagg pointed out.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Just trust me, this game is hilarious because it gets harder the drunker you get. I'll start okay? Hmm Thor."

"Prince." Fandral said.

"Well what else can I say now?" Sif asked. "There are no other princes."

Darcy resisted the urge to bang her head on the table. "Okay first of all, you don't say anything because Prince begins with a P. Remember? No words beginning with S or P. And secondly you have to say something. You could say crown or royalty or something. Right, Fandral drink."

Fandral looked at her incredulously. "I lost the game, so it is me who drinks? That is the punishment for losing?" A grin spread across his face. "You know I think I might be rather fond of these Midgardian customs after all."

Darcy didn't know whether to laugh or leave the tavern as Fandal chugged his ale. Maybe teaching drinking games, and word association in particular, to a group of Asgardians wasn't the brightest idea she had ever had.

* * *

><p>Another night. Another tavern.<p>

Darcy really liked Asgard. It was like college all over again.

"Oh my god." She said, jumping back as the man rammed into the other to the cheers of the surrounding crowd.

"It is only a game." Volstagg said gently.

"Dude this is like one on one mosh pitting."

"It is called knattleikr." Sif said. "It is a way for men to lose more brain cells than they already have."

"You are only saying that because of that Apling festival." Fandral said.

"I am not." Sif said indignantly.

"Yes you are." Fandral assured her.

"Why could it not be you and not Thor who met a mortal girl? At least his company I enjoy." Sif said.

"Yes we all know how much you enjoy his company." Fandral said.

"And besides," Volstagg added. "You have met Fandral. What woman would have him for more than one night?"

Fandral feigned sadness, hand over his heart and a comical frown on his face. "It is the curse of those of us gifted in bedroom antics."

"Bedroom antics?" Darcy giggled. "Oh my god, that makes it sound like a pillow fight."

"From what I've heard that's exactly what it is." Sif smirked.

"I will have you know-" Fandral was cut off by one of the wrestling men ramming into him.

* * *

><p>"You will be fine Darcy," Sif said. "You managed perfectly well with Fandral."<p>

"Yes because Fandral was the one steering the horse. I was just sat behind him." Darcy said.

"I will teach you." Sif assured her, taking her hand to help lift her up onto the horse.

Darcy wrapped her legs round the saddle. She didn't remember it being quite so high.

Sif was moving off to her own horse, Fandral and Volstagg already mounted.

"Hey girl." Darcy said to her horse, stroking her mane. She was a beautiful horse. A smooth chestnut brown and silky smooth with white hair and socks. "You're not going to throw me off, right."

"Darcy, be careful," Fandral called. "Horses can sense fear."

"I'm not scared of her! Isn't that right?" She stroked the mane. "I know she won't hurt me, not intentionally. I'm not scared of her I'm scared of me fucking up. I've never ridden a horse before what if I do something wrong? Like if I fall, and grab her mane by accident?"

"Well, I suggest you don't do that." Sif said.

Darcy glared at her and Sif smiled.

Darcy turned her glare on them all. "I cannot believe you are making me do this."

It was, she believed, a very very very terrible idea.

* * *

><p>"And then what happened?" Jane asked eagerly.<p>

Darcy glared across the table where Sif, Volstagg and Fandral were in hysterics.

"And then," Sif said, wiping away a tear. "Fandral decided Darcy ought to have a weapon."

"She had mentioned jousting when first we met! How was I to know she did not know how to do it?" Fandral protested through laughter.

"I was joking!" Darcy said. "Who knows how to joust?"

"But her horse saw the weapon..." Sif trailed off because she was laughing too hard.

"And her horse bolted..." Volstagg continued.

"Straight through the city..." Fandral joint in.

"Before abruptly halting in front of the lake." Darcy finished somewhat miserably. "An unplanned swim for me."

Jane and Thor both joined in with the laughter, and even Darcy smiled slightly, it was funny she supposed. A bit.

"You seem to at least have had an enjoyable week." Thor said.

"Yeah it's been great." Darcy said.

"Hardly," Fandral interrupted, turning to Thor. "We spend about an hour or two with her each day because she insists on using the library for every other spare second. I have never met someone so keen on reading factual texts."

"You enjoy the books?" Thor asked, turning to her.

Darcy nodded. "Yeah well they are facts to you but to me they're interesting. Not much in the way of character descriptions though. I think I prefer fiction."

"There are fictional texts in the library, are there not?" Sif asked, frowning.

Thor shook his head and turned back to Darcy. "My brother Loki kept most of those books in his room."

"Oh." Darcy said, feeling awkward. The last thing she had wanted was to lead them back onto a conversation that would make Thor sad.

"He...He is hardly using them now." Thor said, smiling weakly as though attempting to joke. "His room is in the same position as mine, but on the west end rather than the East. You may help yourself to any books you wish."

"What? No, I couldn't do that." Darcy protested.

"I insist." Thor said. "It will be nice to know that someone is enjoying them."  
>Darcy swallowed. She really wanted the books, but she didn't want Thor to be upset. Then again he was insisting. And whether they liked it or not, Loki was dead.<p>

It wasn't like she was stealing them from him.

Her mind was set.

"Okay," She said. "If you're okay with it, I'll go tonight."

* * *

><p><em>Lyrics from Going Out by A Rocket To The Moon. I feel like I need some dramatic music at the end of that...umm<em>

_DUN DUN DAAAAAH_

_Yeah woo Asgardian montage...it sure would be awkward if something happened...Anyway hope you liked the chapter, thanks for all of your reviews. I showed my flatmate them when drunk and he was like "aww they're sooo nice...they love you" I don't know why I felt the need to share that but yeah. (probably because I just ate like two boxes of nerds) _

_Please review. _


	5. Chapter 5: Not Quite Satan

After dinner, Darcy found herself wandering up to Thor's floor. She couldn't help but feel slightly odd about what she was about to do, but she didn't know why.

Was it just that it was Loki's room? Darcy thought it was actually quite nice – and from what she had heard of Odin, most unexpected- that he still had his room. She would have thought he would have redecorated it to a home gym or something when Loki went dark side.

Then again, if he wanted a home gym, it wasn't like he was lacking for space...

No, she didn't know what it was. Was it because it was Loki? She'd never met him but he'd almost killed her in Puente Antiguo, and of course he'd destroyed New York in his quest for world domination.

But those things were just so huge. That Loki seemed so distant and impossibly big, too over the top to comprehend or understand. Like a comic book villain who just does these huge acts for no real reason.

No, in her mind the Loki whose room she was venturing to was just Thor's brother. He'd done things that were wrong and immoral, and he'd argued with Thor. But he'd helped him, and according to Jane and Thor, he had been distraught when his mother died. And he'd realised he was wrong. He'd apologised. Heck, he'd given his life to do the right thing for once.

Didn't that make him seem like far too intricate a person to be capable of doing such a two dimensional act as taking over a planet?

Then again it wasn't like he was voicing his motivations at the same time he was yelling for people to kneel.

She sighed. Why was she even thinking all of this? Loki had never been anything to her but the name behind acts.

She was just going to get some books and leave- that was all. She wasn't there for some insight into Loki's life, she was there for fiction.

And perhaps if she weren't so interested in what Asgardian fiction was like, she would have just left it. Unfortunately Darcy's curiosity was far too great and the only book she'd had time to throw into her bag was Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide To World Mythology. She thought it might be helpful here. She'd tried reading textbooks on mythology but she just couldn't, and as Rick Riordan was yet to write a book on Norse myths this was the best one she had.

And a fabulous book though it undoubtedly was, it wasn't going to last her very long.

She smirked at the thought of that author learning about Thor, Loki, and the Asgardians. Imagine watching your TV, and seeing gods you have researched for years being real and attacking the world. Someone you introduced as "So Loki, the god of being a needless prick all the time" destroying a city.

Darcy longed for days where she would have found that amusing rather than kind of scary. Despite how much she loved Thor and Sif and Fandral and Volstagg, her life was a lot less complicated and made a lot more sense before all this happened.

She found herself on the polished stairs up to Thor's floor. She smiled at the thought of Loki the God as opposed to Loki Thor's brother –for they were very different in her head- finding out she was going into his room to get books.

Probably something like: "PUNY MORTAL DARES DISTURB MY CHAMBERS!"

Yep, life used to be a lot less complicated.

She turned in the opposite direction to the one she had walked to go to Thor's room. Her mind wandered to the kind of fiction she might find. Romance? Adventure? Comedy? She really didn't care. She was having fiction withdrawals. As fun as reading about various wars and cultures was she wanted character development and plot twist and villains who were more than just names on a page.

Loki's room. She hadn't even realised she'd reached it but the door was bigger than the others in the hall just like Thor's had been, marking it out as a room of a prince.

She reached her hand out, before realising how ridiculous it was that her hand was curled into a fist, as though prepared to knock. It was an empty room.

Instead, she clutched the door handle and turned it.

Her first surprise was that the room was lit.

Of course, most of the rooms in Asgard were, but Darcy assumed that because this wasn't in use and hadn't been for years that it would be dim.

Instead flames flickered in lanterns along the walls. It was nice actually, a lot of the rooms were lit with energy like lights, but the flames made everything seem a bit calmer. Of course it must have been burning some Asgardian oil because no lamps on Earth would burn like that.

Her second surprise was the books.

Of course she'd known he would have some- that was her whole purpose of being here- but so many?

It was like a smaller version of the library, one wall lined with them.

And these were well worn, clearly read and loved all his life, which was hundreds of years longer than she'd had.

She walked over as though in a trance, attracted to them like a magnet. Her fingers trailed across the spines, feeling the creases and ridges.

She wondered which was his favourite, suddenly acutely aware that these were not just a selection of books but _his_ selection of books. And she knew how they worked. She knew how words could shape you, and she wanted to know which ones had had the most effect in making him who he was.

She didn't even know why she cared, she'd never even thought about the man before today but stepping into his room felt like stepping into his mind. And especially his books. He'd clearly loved them a lot.

She turned to face the rest of the room. She didn't know what she'd expected. More gold, green and black? That was what he was wearing in the footage of New York, maybe she had just come to associate that with him.

But the furniture was dark brown, and the fabrics a mix of green and blue.

On his bedside table, she saw more books and wandered over to them. It was only a small stack and one was lying face down, open at a page. Maybe the last one he had read?

She leant closer, reading the title.

_Prophecies of The Great.  
><em>

In elaborate, gold lettering across the dark blue leather. That was some Sybill Trelawney shit right there.

On his opposite wall were torn sheets of paper, covered in scrawling runes. She moved closer to them. There appeared to be two different handwritings covering them though both were illegible to her, perhaps not even in English. One of what seemed to be the original text was printed neatly, but scrawling annotations had been written in a looping hand. Loki's maybe?

Next to them was a painting in an ornate frame. The brush-strokes seemed at once delicate and precise, as though made by an expert hand. The picture showed a beautiful garden that looked somehow dreamlike. In it, a young boy of around four or five leant over a patch of grass, hand raised over a flower taking bud in a swirl of green.

A picture of Loki doing magic. Darcy couldn't help but smile. It was quite cute, like an Asgardian version of a home photo.

She squinted at the writing beneath: _Loki's First Spell_ – Frigga Allmother.

_Oh my God his mom had painted it?_ Her smile widened. That was so cute.

Especially given what she knew about Loki, that he was willing to put aside his acts of evil and whatever slights had been done to him in order to avenge her death.

She turned, feeling suddenly like looking at the painting was an invasion of privacy.

Instead she saw more sheets of paper littering the floor in that second, loopy hand. She picked one up curiously.

A door to her side opened and she turned, expecting it to be Thor checking on her. Instead her breath caught in her throat.

Of course she should have realised that the door to the room was behind her.

The man who entered turned from calm to furious in the split second he saw her. Bypassing only a moment of surprise, before blinding anger replaced it. His teeth were grit and eyes were practically burning with fury.

She dropped the sheet of paper in shock.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded furiously.

Darcy stuttered, her mouth opening and closing without making a sound.

And before she even made the conscious decision to do it she had turned and was running for the door.

"I was just leaving!" She blurted.

But just before her hand closed around the handle, the door slammed shut. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that he'd flicked his hand.

Shit, he had magic.

Her hand scrambled at the handle but no matter how much she pulled and pushed, the door wouldn't budge. He must have locked it.

Perhaps she could call for help, but right now she didn't feel capable of saying a word.

Her heart pumped rapidly with terror, and her breathing was sharp. All she could do was stare at the door. But that meant having her back to him, and if she was stuck in here, she wouldn't let him out of her sight.

Slowly, she turned round to face him, trying not to think about just how scared she was, because she was truly fucking terrified.

Instead she forced herself to raise her head and take in the man before her.

He had black hair like ravens feathers, pushed back sharply and damp. Presumably he had been washing in the bathroom. His eyes were shrewd, looking at her in a mix of anger and annoyance. The planes of his face could have been carved with a chisel, extreme and sharp and so godly they could have come from a Greek statue.

Heck he was even wearing the same, or at last a very similar outfit to the one he had worn in New York: black and green leather coating his chest and legs, forming a coat with a high collar that only accentuated his features more. All decorated with gold.

Loki.

Loki standing in front of her. Loki staring at her with fury.

Loki who was supposed to be dead.

And she didn't know who she had been kidding on her way here or what she had been thinking as she had looked round the room because this was no complex man who was Thor's brother and a _person_.

This was every bit the nightmare of New York. The look he was giving her alone could probably have razed the city.

And she was so fucking scared.

And yet she stared at him defiantly, forcing her features into a mask of calm. Her immediate defence was confidence, usually presented in the form of comedy.

So she wouldn't let him think she was scared, because she was under no delusions that he wouldn't take complete and utter advantage of her.

He had walked forward as she scrambled at the door, and continued to walk forwards, his leather boots making the softest sound on the floor like a cat treading carefully.

Like a cat ready to pounce.

"I shall ask you again," He said. His voice was smooth and deadly, sending shivers of anticipation up her spine. She had never met anyone who was capable of sounding quite so menacing. "What are you doing here?"

She had expected no words. Heck if she was honest she expected for him to make her spontaneously combust on the spot.

She supposed this was going better than her expectations at least.

"I...uh...I mean I-"

His jaw jutted in annoyance.

"Books." She choked out. She swallowed, her throat dry though that was evidently the least of her worries. "I was here for books."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And yet you were on the opposite side of the room to the bookshelf."

"I...I was just curious...I'm sorry." She rambled. "I just...I saw the sheets, that's all. I came for the books and then it just...looked interesting."

"You came for books?" Loki asked. "There is a library, is there not? And you came here?"

"I..." She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. There was no point looking like she wasn't scared if she was going to then convince him otherwise by rambling like a mad woman. "I was saying to Thor that I couldn't find any fiction in the library. He said it was all up here, and that I should come get it." _Because you were supposed to be dead_, she thought angrily.

And yet here he was. Living, breathing and snarling in anger.

He considered her words for a moment. "That is all you came for?" He asked.

She nodded hurriedly. "I swear, it's not like there's anything else in here I care about." She suddenly realised that might sound rude and she really shouldn't be rude to someone like him. "I mean, not that it's not interesting, like I said I think it is and-"

"Silence." He snapped.

Darcy paused, but instead of doing the logical thing and shutting up she opened her mouth to make an angry retort.

She forced herself to physically bite her tongue, and she could taste blood in her mouth, but it was better than encouraging the crazy God of Mischief to kill her.

"Well, if that's all I guess I'll be off." She said, turning back to the door and yanking at the handle. Shit it still wouldn't open. "Hey, uh, you want to open the door?"

"I think not." He said. He brought a hand up to his lips as though thinking, a slight crease forming between his eyebrows.

"What? You don't believe I'm here for books?" She asked.

"I believe that." He replied. "However, there remains the problem that I am known throughout Asgard to be dead, and I cannot allow you to leave knowing that you will soon spread information to the contrary."

Would he kill her to keep her silent?

Or imprison her?

Adrenaline raced through her veins, a flight or fight response. Obviously flight wasn't an option.

Could she fight him?

She had her taser, it wasn't like she would walk around Asgard without it. And it had worked on Thor.

But Thor didn't have magic. Would Loki be able to deflect it? Or at the very least make it so that it wouldn't knock him out?

"Dude, your secret is safe with me. Mum's the word." Darcy hurriedly said.

Loki rolled his eyes.

Darcy frowned. He just went from terrifying villain to petulant teenager in seconds.

"Yes, and I'm sure I believe you." Loki said sarcastically.

Sarcasm? Really? Oh my god maybe he was a petulant teenager...

He lifted his hand and the fear returned to her in a sudden rush.

How had she forgotten that he was kind of in the middle of practically threatening to kill her?

Green energy seemed to flash between his quick hand movement, and she fumbled for her taser, terrified that this was it.

But she was too late, she'd barely even gripped the taser in her pocket, when the light flew from his hands straight at her.

She went to take a step back but realised she was pressed up against the wall. The greenish light hit her chest and she flinched, preparing for pain.

Instead, she felt sudden warmth rushing from the point the light had hit throughout her body. As it reached her head it seemed to burn more, not painfully but still warmer than the rest, particularly through her mouth. And it felt like the warmth was squeezing her brain.

And all at once it was gone.

And she was alive.

She gasped in surprise and stared at Loki. "What was that?" She asked without thinking.

"A tongue-tying spell." Loki said simply.

"A what?" She asked. That sounded so pathetic, especially given what she had thought would happen.

"You cannot tell anyone that I am alive." He explained. "Nor write it down nor drag them here...nothing with the intention of anyone finding out I am alive will be possible for you."

So that was it? Somehow she didn't believe that.

"You're not going to kill me?" She asked, only realising afterwards that perhaps she shouldn't have suggested that to him.

He looked at her sharply. "I had no plans to."

"Why?" She asked.

He frowned at her. "Are you disappointed?"

"No but...you're Loki. You didn't exactly care about people dying in New York. Or Stuttgart for that matter." She pointed out.

He looked at her for a moment as though deciding what to say. "You are a guest of the Allfather's." He said. "Killing you would raise too many questions."

"Okay, great!" She said, turning to the door before he could change his mind. She gripped the handle praying that it would work. To her surprise, it twisted under her grip and she sprinted out, slamming the door behind her.

She ran down the hall in case he decided to come after her though realistically she didn't think he would.

She sprinted all the way to her room two floors below, almost slipping and breaking her neck on the polished floors.

"Darcy," Erika greeted.

"I'm sorry," She blurted too distracted to care for giving her handmaiden an explanation. "But can I be alone please."

Darcy wasn't watching her but she assumed she looked somewhat affronted.

"Yes, of course." She said, sounding slightly upset.

Darcy collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling where two floors above Loki was alive.

Loki. Thor's brother, whose death had devastated him.

Loki, who had been imprisoned for murder and attempted world domination.

Loki, who had saved Jane's life several times.

Loki, who had helped save the universe from the dark elves and the Aether.

Loki was alive. And she was the only one who knew.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Both Sides of The Story by We Are The In Crowd. Can I add another dun dun duh? Maybe I just need that on a permanent loop to accompany chapters like this. Thanks for all the reviews, you people are fabulous. <em>

_Please review_


	6. Chapter 6: A God or A Disgrace

Darcy simply couldn't believe what had just happened.

Her heart had finally slowed to a regular beat, but she could still remember the fear she had felt when he'd appeared.

Loki was alive. How? Why? What for?

Thousands of questions raced in her head.

As her fear subsided, it was replaced with anger.

She had been getting books from the room of a man who was supposed to be dead. He couldn't blame her for stumbling across his secret.

And dear God, if he wanted the fact he was alive to remain a secret, she could think of a few thousand better hiding places than his room.

But that simply led to her wondering why. From what she had heard, Loki was the clever one. The evil, mischievous and calculating one, yes, but the clever one nonetheless.

So surely he must know that going to his room would be foolish? There was nothing to stop someone, like herself, from walking in and finding him.

So what was he doing there? And he must be doing something. There must be some reason for him being in the palace rather than hiding in another realm in case he was found and sent back to the dungeons. And according to the stories she'd heard from Thor and the myths she had read, when was Loki ever _not_ up to something?

The question was: was it dangerous?

Because there was one thing she was certain of. She needed to tell Thor.

But she couldn't.

Because he'd put that stupid charm on her. And she'd tested it. She'd assumed he was lying so had got up to tell Thor immediately but she couldn't, she literally couldn't move. She tried every variation but whenever she intended to make Loki's existence known her body stopped obeying her.

And it felt like such a violation that she punched the pillow next to her, imagining it was that prick's face.

She sat up. No...she shouldn't...

But her legs were already moving, and she was aware that this was very, very stupid, but she deserved answers, and she was damn well going to get some.

"Erika," She said to her haindmaiden who waited in the hall. "I am going to Loki's room to get books."

At least she was able to say that, it wasn't said so Loki would be discovered but so that she had some insurance. Someone who knew where she was should she go missing...and hopefully find some traces as to what had happened.

"Oh um, very well." Erika mumbled, clearly shocked.

Darcy was too busy storming back up to Loki's floor to listen to her shocked words.

Her hand tapped her pocket. Her taser was there. If he didn't answer her she could always try threats.

Hopefully the fact that it would be too easy to find out where she last was, would stop Loki from doing anything. Particularly, she hoped, anything murderous.

_Oh great idea Darcy_, she thought, a _really great idea. _

And yet still her legs were moving in the direction of his room.

The door was in front of her within seconds, anger still boiling under the surface of her skin. Her hands were itching for her taser but she figured she should at least try the civil approach first.

She flung the door open so hard it slammed into the wall on the other side.

Loki jumped.

Wait no, it wasn't Loki.

It was another man, a servant judging by his attire, who was reading on the bed and scrambling up guiltily as though caught in an indecent act.

Darcy felt her anger change to confusion, and then to embarrassment, as she realised she had intruded on a servant who was presumably reading when he should have been working. And hey, it wasn't like she'd never bunked off work to read.

She was about to open her mouth to apologise when his look of guilt turned to one of distaste.

"Oh, it's you." He said, a green light suddenly encompassing him from head to toe.

And where before had stood a rather unremarkable servant, in his place was the stupidly hot, incredibly intimidating God of Mischief himself.

"What is it you want?" He asked, sounding irritated by her presence.

His tone grated on her and she was suddenly reminded of that quote from her favourite mythology book again. _"Loki, the god of being a needless prick all the time"_

she thought almost comfortingly, and it teamed with the anger rising from his comment to give her the push necessary to reply.

"Answers, you asshole." She replied, slamming the door behind her.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me?" He asked sounding affronted.

"You can't just…curse me and not expect me to demand a few things in return." She spat.

He looked upwards like he was on the verge of rolling his eyes. "I owe you nothing." He said calmly.

"Right okay, so I'm just keeping this secret for you and you owe me nothing?" She asked, raising her eyebrows incredulously. She crossed her arms, she'd been in his room less than a minute and she was already so done with this prick.

He looked down at her condescendingly, and she wished she was taller than her five foot four frame, so that she wouldn't have to glare up at him like a child.

"I don't believe you have much choice about that." Loki pointed out.

"Exactly," She said through gritted teeth. "I have no choice because you did this. So if you're going to be a jerk then screw it, I'm getting something in return."

"And how do you suppose to go about that?" Loki asked.

"How are you alive?" She asked, ignoring him and cutting to the most pressing point.

This time he did roll his eyes, and he turned away from her, his leather coat swinging with him.

"Yes," He drawled sarcastically. _When did sarcasm reach Asgard? It went straight over Thor's head,_ she wondered."I will of course reveal that to you."

"Did you fake dying?" She asked, not letting his refusals deter her.

"No." He answered curtly.

She smiled, glad that his back was to her so he couldn't see. It may not be getting her very far but at least he'd actually answered the question.

"Did you heal yourself?" She asked.

"No." He replied, slightly more irritated.

"Go unconscious?" She tried.

"No!" He was definitely getting annoyed now.

She tilted her head to the side as she examined him, running out of ideas as to how he could die in front of Jane and Thor. The fact he was answering with no, rather than a refusal to answer at all suggested he was telling the truth. Of course, that could be some greater way of convincing her of his lies but she doubted it.

"Are you a zombie?" She asked, uncertain as to whether she was actually joking or not.

"Miss Lewis, why are you here?" He snarled, turning round to face her.

"What's the matter," She asked, "First time talking to someone who actually knows you're you in a while?"

He hesitated for a fraction of a second too long that led Darcy to believe she wasn't quite wrong. There was a slight glint to his eyes that suggested not quite loneliness, but a need to be seen, seen as himself rather than a servant or whoever else he was pretending to be.

And heck, if he hadn't just cursed her then maybe she would have felt some sympathy for the bastard.

"The matter is incessant questions being asked by a presumptuous mortal who assumes she deserves an answer." He replied.

"I do deserve an answer, darling." She said saccharinely. "Well, you aren't trying to eat my brains, so I guess you aren't a zombie. Are you going to tell me how you are alive or not?"

He gave her a look that suggested he found it shocking she even needed to ask such a thing. "Evidently not." He said. "I find it alarming you ever presumed otherwise."

"Okay fine, I can come back to that question later." She carried on unperturbed. "So what is it you're doing on Asgard?"

"Please leave." He said wearily.

"I mean other than cursing mortals and being an irritating asshole?" She asked.

"You have the nerve to call another irritating?" He asked in response.

"Like really what are you doing?" She asked.

"Leave. Now." He said.

This time it was her turn to roll her eyes- after all she believed she was the only one in the universe to retain that teenage habit but apparently some kept it until they were a thousand years old. Maybe she'd tell her mom that the next time she was told she was too old to do such a thing…

"Or what?" She asked. "You'll run to daddy Odin and tell him the annoying mortal won't leave you alone?" His eyes narrowed at the mention of his father's name. Well at least someone else around here disliked him. "Oh wait, yeah!" She pretended to hit herself on the forehead as she feigned sudden realisation. "Then he'll know you're alive. And then he'll probably throw you back in the dungeons…"

"I do not require him to make you leave." Loki said icily, clearly the mentioning of the king had not endeared him towards her. Which was such a shame because she was sure up until that moment he had loved having her around.

"Really?" She asked. "Because I told people I was coming here-"

"How?" He said immediately, straightening up slightly.

"Oh calm down, your little curse is still intact, no true love's kiss has broken it yet. I just figured if I was going to a temperamental dickhead's room then perhaps someone should know where I am. You know, for when he inevitably starts threatening me. Like you are now. So you can't hurt me."

He glared at her, annoyed but also clearly somewhat impressed with her foresight.

"Ha, suck it!" She said, poking her tongue out at him. Okay, maybe she was enjoying their confrontation a little too much.

He ran a hand through his hair in irritation as he looked away from her. She smiled in appreciation, an ass though he undoubtedly was, he was a hot one.

She had forgotten what she had been asking him, and had to admit that her intention may have swayed from questioning him, to annoying the hell out of him. What could she say? Irritating him was just a little too much fun.

She walked to his bed and threw herself on top of it, lounging lazily like she intended to stay there a long time. Making herself at home she hoped was bound to infuriate him.

She leant over and plucked the book he had been reading up. "'Prophecies of The Great,'" She read. "So is that like 'A half blood of the eldest gods' kind of thing or more of a 'the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches' thing? God, prophecies are such a cliché, I can't believe people still use them."

He was looking at her in a strange way that she couldn't quite place: a little uncomfortable, slightly interested, and with measured restraint.

With a start, she realised she'd just clambered onto this incredibly hot god's bed and heck, even if her intentions were completely innocent (well sexually speaking at least because intending to wind him up probably didn't count as entirely innocent) her thoughts were now leading in a direction that definitely weren't and she really hoped his weren't going a similar way.

She put the book back down and slowly stood back up again, attempting to make it look casual.

"Okay, so hypothetically speaking," She started, remembering where she had left off. "If you _were_ up to something sinister what would it be?"

He gave her another condescending look. He seemed to have three expressions: glare, condescension and irritation. "How could I possibly be planning anything when the world assumes me dead? I would leave this room and be arrested immediately."

She glared at him. "Nu-uh. Don't give me that nonsense, I'm not an idiot." He opened his mouth, presumably to say something like "Really?" but she raised her hand to stop him. "Shut up, I do not need your sass Loki. When I came in, you transformed into a servant and back again. Who knows who you've been masquerading as. For all I know, you could be my handmaiden." She hesitated before looking at him curiously. "Wait you aren't, are you?"

He shook his head slightly in amusement. "One moment you accuse me of sinister plans, and the next you suggest I am impersonating your handmaiden. At this point I do not know what it is you expect me to be doing."

"Hey, if the myths are right your immediate answer to stopping a wall being built was to seduce and fuck the builder's horse. So for all I know your way to world domination could be watching me in my panties." She said. She suddenly realised what she had just said, and felt colour flush into her cheeks.

"I assure you that particular myth is simply that." He said dryly. "A myth."  
>Clearly he was a bit distracted by the insinuation of bestiality, which Darcy supposed made sense as it was apparently a worse accusation than being a pervert.<p>

"'That particular myth,'" She repeated. "You mean there's truth to the others? You and Thor dressed in drag to defeat a giant? You're the mother of wolves? You bet your head that some dwarves couldn't make some cool items?"

He glared at her. Darcy was starting to get used to that look. "I shall deign not to reply to that." He said.

Darcy's mouth opened in shocked excitement. "No way! Which one's true?"

"Are these really the questions you came here with the intention to ask?" He asked, his voice back to its smooth undertone of that of an adult putting up with an irritating child.

"Are you going to answer my others?" She asked.

"No." He answered.

"Then are you the mother of wolves?"

He turned away, his fingers flexing slightly as though itching to curl into fists. Hmm, and Darcy had always believed he was never the sort to resort to violence. Well, him fighting at least, he was clearly no stranger to getting others to do it.

She grinned, well she supposed if anyone could bring that out in him it was her.

Soon, she'd be having him ramming his head against the wall. She smiled at the thought.

"So seriously," She continued. "It's been what…four months since the dark elves? And you've been alone the entire time? No one else knows you're alive?"

"No one in this realm." Loki confirmed.

"Wow, so I'm the first person to know and you treat me like this? Dude, no wonder you have no friends." She said.

Loki scowled at her as if that hardly mattered.

"Well, I guess apart from Fandral, he's the only one other than Thor who speaks of you like they actually care." She said before realising that maybe that wasn't the nicest thing to say. Damn her lack of filters. Of course she wanted to be mean to Loki, but wasn't mocking the lack of people who liked him a bit childish?

"Do you not think you had best go?" Loki asked.

"Um no, why?" Darcy asked.

"Because you informed others you were coming here and you have been here a while. That may invoke some curiosity." Loki said.

"That's your problem, not mine." She said but now that he had said it she found she felt a very strong urge to go. Whilst her purpose in staying was to annoy Loki, there was part of her that hoped someone did notice that she was gone and came looking for her, stumbling across Loki in the process.

Which meant that thanks to the stupid spell he put on her meant that she couldn't physically stay put.

"Urgh, I hate you." She said at his quirked eyebrows- he was evidently aware that she could not stay. Instead of the door however she walked to the bookshelf.

"What are you doing?" He asked as her eyes roved over the titles.

"Getting books." She answered.

"You are _not_ taking my books." Loki said behind her.

She turned to face him, arms crossed and looking at him scornfully. "Thor sent me up here to get books. I told people I was coming here to get some. Don't you think it might look the slightest bit suspicious if I return without any?"

His lips pressed into a thin line as he realised she was right, though he obviously wasn't happy about it.

He walked to the end bookshelf and plucked three books from the highest shelf, holding them out to her. "Take these." He said.

She raised her eyebrows doubtfully. "Book recommendations?"

He smirked. "Something like that, yes."

She took the books and knew she couldn't stay longer. "Right see you tomorrow then." She said, smiling at the annoyed look on his face. "Oh yeah I'm coming back, don't worry."

He glared at her as she left.

"Wait," She said, standing in the doorway. "Just please can you tell me, are you planning anything dangerous?"

"No." He answered.

"No you're not planning anything, or no you're not going to answer?"

"No." He said again.

But she couldn't say anything back, as her feet were literally dragging her out the door. The moment the door closed, any smile she still had lingering on her face fell.

She was confused about what had happened. Because the last time she'd seen Loki he'd been a terrifying monster. And now he'd turned into a person. An annoying jerk of a person, yes but a person nonetheless.

And Darcy knew with unquestionable certainty that seeing Loki as a person was anything but a good thing.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from This Is London by Airborne Toxic Event. <em>

_Please review._


	7. Chapter 7: Through Your Disguise

Darcy had fallen asleep still thinking about Loki, so that when she woke, her perception of what had happened was slightly warped by the things she had thought whilst on the edge of consciousness.

Hey, maybe he wasn't so bad. Yeah, he'd cursed her, but it was that or risk that she'd tell someone and he'd be sent to the dungeons.

Of course she still maintained that he could have just asked her, but maybe that just wasn't how things were done on Asgard.

Otherwise he'd just been hostile and refused to answer her questions. But her questions had been rather personal she supposed, and so he wasn't the most socially adept guy in the world…

Whatever, it wasn't like she was going to see him again. He'd probably use all his magical abilities to avoid her.

She rolled over in bed and yawned. She was still sleepy, but at that annoying stage in the morning where she knew no matter how much she tried she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so all she could do was lie there with her eyes closed and pretend to be unconscious.

After a while however, she was too alert for that to be anything but boring, and her covers were too warm for her to even contemplate getting up.

Instead, she rolled over and grabbed her phone off of the side.

It took her about two seconds to remember that her phone wouldn't work on Asgard. And even if it did checking social networking sites probably wasn't a big priority on Asgard.

She smiled at the thought of Asgardians with access to modern technology. Thor hitting things with Mjolnir "for the vine." Fandral and Volstagg having a Youtube channel comprising of them basically having banter with strong homoerotic themes. Sif obsessively becoming a social justice blogger, at least feminism wise, because she didn't seem to think the hierarchy that existed on Asgard was wrong.

And Loki…what would he do? Read fanfiction? Have a vlog where he rants daily about the people that annoyed him? Wait no, he'd totally have a ✧*:・Soft Grunge ✧*:・blog.

Anyway, it had been a week and her phone had been off the entire time. She figured she may as well check.

She turned it on and felt her eyes widen in surprise as she saw that she not only had signal, but 3G too.

After a moment, her phone started buzzing incessantly as countless missed calls came through to her phone. The majority of which were from her mom.

Her stomach clenched with worry as she clicked the call button. Had something happened? Was someone hurt? Worse?

The seconds that the phone was ringing seemed to stretch into hours, each one that passed making her more and more scared of the news that would greet her when her mom answered the phone.

"Darcy!" Her mom gasped as she finally answered, relief clearly evident in her voice.

"Yeah Mom, it's me," Darcy said quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Are you all right?" Her mom asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, I told you I probably wouldn't have signal here."

"But the weather dear!" Her mom said.

"Norway is cold, Mom, but it's spring, it's really not that bad." Darcy said with a slight smile, her mom had lived in Arizona and California. She didn't do cold.

"Darling, what are you talking about?" Her mom asked.

"Did you try to phone me all those times to ask about the weather?" Darcy suddenly realised that she had no clue what was happening on Earth. Maybe it _was_ a little colder than usual in Norway. "I mean it's cold but it's Norway. They're used to the weather being like this and they are prepared for it."

"Mmhmm," Her mom said like she didn't believe her. "Norway is prepared for the lowest temperatures on record since records began?"

"Wait, what?" Darcy asked. She'd only been gone a week. It couldn't be that bad.

"Darling it's ten degrees here! I can only imag-"

"It's ten degrees in California?" Darcy asked, unable to believe it.

"Where have you been?" Her mom asked like she couldn't believe Darcy didn't know this. "Scientists are saying it's predictive of a new ice age!"

"Well uh, the base is pretty remote so we don't have access to news reports and it's all inside, so the temperature hasn't budged from seventy. I'm okay and I will be fine. Are you? Are you safe? Are you keeping warm?" Darcy asked.

"Yes I'm wearing my ski stuff all the time but I am fine. I love you Darcy, make sure you let me know if anything changes." Her mom said.

"Yeah I'll try." Darcy said. "Love you too."

She hung up and lay thinking about it for a while. Was this even possible?

Then she realised she was the last person to know the answer to that, but she did have access to someone who did.

* * *

><p>It took her about twenty minutes to track Jane and Thor down to the kitchens, where Jane was examining all of the equipment.<p>

"I'm just saying could I maybe borrow this and…take it apart and put it back together again. Just so I could see how it works?" She was asking one of the kitchen servants whilst holding a weird metal ball thing.

The servant looked amused but responded politely. "Of course, my lady."

Darcy wondered if she would have got the same response if she weren't dating the future king.

"Hey Jane," Darcy said hurrying up to her. "Have you heard what's happening on Earth?"

Jane frowned at her. "No, should I? Is it more Hydra stuff?"

"No apparently it's the next ice age." Darcy said.

"Don't exaggerate." Jane said.

"I'm not." Darcy said.

Jane seemed to realise Darcy was telling the truth (she always seemed shocked when this happened) and turned to Thor.

"I can ask Heimdall to check on Midgard." Thor said.

Jane nodded. "Thanks."

"It may take a while." Thor said before leaving.

"How did you find this out anyway?" Jane asked.

"My mom phoned." Darcy said.

"You have signal on Asgard?" Jane asked, impressed. "That must be some data plan, though I dread to think what the international charges will be."

Darcy shrugged. "It's not like I'm going to be there to pay the bill."

"It will take Thor a while to get to Heimdall and back." Jane said.

"Do you need any help?" Darcy asked.

"Nah you can go to the library." Jane answered with a smile.

Oh yeah, Darcy could see what those books Loki had given her were like.

Darcy went back to her room to grab one before returning to the library.

However, the library wasn't empty. The hot guard was in there.

"You know," She said as she entered. "For someone who isn't supposed to be in here you sure come in here an awful lot."

"Yes well, I find it peaceful." He said, looking up from his book pointedly. "Or at least it was."

"Ouch, someone's in a bad mood today." She said, sitting opposite him. "So what are you reading?"

He didn't answer so she reached over and grabbed the book. Admittedly, if someone did this to her she'd be furious, but she wanted the hot guard to pay attention to her, so drastic measures had to be taken.

However, time seemed to freeze as she read the title.

_Prophecies of The Great.  
><em>

Elaborate gold lettering. Blue leather.

After a moment, she found the strength to lift her head and stare at him in shock.

"Oh my God, it's you." She said.

He snatched the book back angrily. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't bullshit me, Loki-"

"Shh!" He interrupted, looking around as though to check no one was around to hear.

"You're the hot guard?" She asked. She felt somewhat betrayed. The hot guy was Loki? No fair!

And wait, hadn't she been massively flirting with him yesterday? Oh my God, and he'd been flirting back! The thought, while shocking, was not as repulsive as it should have been. Jerk or not, Loki was undeniably sexy as hell. The guy wore a leather outfit for crying out loud.

"Excuse me?" He said, his expression of anger morphing into a pleased smirk.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, I'm allowed to say one of your disguises is hot, it's not like it's actually you." Even though Loki was even hotter, now she looked she realised the only thing the same was his eye colour. "You look like Daniel Fitzgerald from Neighbours."

"I do not know who that is." Loki replied.

"Well trust me, he's hot." Darcy said. "So you seriously just spend your time pretending to be other people so that you can read?"

"The majority of it, yes." Loki said.

Darcy smiled, at least that was something she could relate to. Well not the pretending to be other people part, but the read all day aspect. "Well, and sneaking into the throne room and banquets."

"I wished to see the visitors of Asgard." Loki said.

"But you've already met Jane." Darcy said.

He looked at her pointedly.

"Oh…you wanted to see me." She said with realisation. She grinned. "Well hey, that was probably better than your last mortal meeting, didn't Jane slap you?"

He smirked. "Yes she did."

Darcy laughed. "Seriously? Oh my god, do not tell me you actually got turned on by that." Really there was no denying that smirk.

Loki didn't reply, which was answer enough.

"Okay so you were on guard to check me out, and obviously you liked what you saw because you then came to the banquet?" Darcy joked.

Loki smiled slightly. A slight curve of his lips that suggested it was more for his own benefit than anyone else's. It was a really nice smile, Darcy thought, kind of sweet and cute but also really attractive. And Darcy really could appreciate that Loki's smile was something she never thought she'd see. Heck she never thought she'd have a casual conversation with someone like him.

And maybe it was wrong- she squirmed slightly at the thought of what Jane would say- but she was enjoying it.

"Not quite." He said and she realised she was still staring at his lips.

She pulled her eyes back to his face, his own still cast downwards as he read.

"So why'd you go?" Darcy asked. From what she had heard of pre-taking-over-worlds Loki he had never been one to enjoy large gatherings. When forced to attend apparently he preferred to get drunk and insult everyone. Darcy wished she could see that.

He looked up from the book, clearly suppressing a smile but his eyes were sparkling with mischief. Damn, it must have been a long time since he'd spoken to anyone like this because he'd gone from angrily cursing her to being quite content (however much he denied it- _hello,_ God of Lies) with conversation.

"I felt the need to thank you for the entertainment you provided in meeting Odin." Loki said.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Dude, meeting him was terrifying, don't mock me. Do you know what it's like to think someone is an utter douche – did you know he called Jane a goat? – and have to be respectful because they are powerful?"

"I tend to forfeit the latter in favour of pointing out the former." Loki replied.

Darcy smiled as she imagined Loki confronting Odin and wished she could have watched his trial or something. She imagined it to go something like:

"YOU KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LOKI!"

"Yes, but at least I don't see eye patches as a fashion statement."

Or something like that. Yep, Darcy was certain that's how it happened. Honestly she was surprised he got away with just the dungeons.

"And then one confrontation in a library later, you cursed me?" Darcy asked, eyebrows raising. She may enjoy talking to Loki, but she was still pissed off about that.

He looked at her questioningly. "And what other option was there? Aside from killing you?"

Okay, casually mentioning that killing her was an option…just when she was forgetting that this guy was the same one responsible for the destruction in New York.

"You could have asked." She said.

He raised his eyebrows in a look that could only translate as a sceptical "Asked?"

"I would probably have kept it secret, you know." She said truthfully. "If you'd asked."

"You would have kept the fact that I, a criminal who attempted to subjugate your world, destroy another and rule this one, am alive if I had only asked?" He said, his voice laced with so much sarcasm it was clear that there wasn't a single part of him that believed her.

"Yeah you did all that, and I'm _loving_ the amount of remorse you're showing there by the way." She added disdainfully. "But you also saved the universe from the Dark Elves. And more importantly, you saved Jane. Like twice. So yeah, if you'd asked me I would have. Probably not happily, definitely reluctantly, but I wouldn't have said anything because after all that I don't think you deserve to go back to the dungeons. I mean, you definitely have some fucked up sense of morality, no one is disputing that. Evil though? I don't think so."

He had listened to this without his expression changing once, and now he returned his gaze to his book as though this whole conversation were beneath him.

"You are wrong." He said simply. "Do not attempt to find redemptive qualities to my character, Miss Lewis. I assure you that there are none."

"Is that a challenge?" She asked.

He lifted his head from his book curiously. She clearly hadn't replied how he'd expected her to, and now he seemed to be unsure of whether she was being truthful.

After a moment he spoke. "Perhaps." He said. "But it is one that is doomed from the start."

"God, don't tell me you believe all that nonsense as well?" She asked. "What is it? You've spent so long being called a monster you became one?"

He smirked again, that infuriating smile that told her she'd said something relating to something significant to him though she didn't understand the relevance.

"Something like that." He said. "Given long enough, you will share that view."

"I doubt it." She shrugged. "Not when I have to put up with Fandral and Volstagg and Thor," She carefully left Sif out of that and she doubted it escaped his notice.

"Telling me how great you were. The voice of reason apparently which for a guy with a horned helmet is pretty shocking. The quiet one too apparently, and you could have fooled me."

"That person never existed. Their whole existence was built on lies." Loki smiled self-deprecatingly. "This is the truth. A monster. Most people prefer the illusion."

"Yeah, you sure look like a monster just sat there reading." Darcy said.

Loki closed his book and stood up.

"Wait!" Darcy called and he paused, turning to her irritated as though to say that she had better have a good reason for stopping him. "I don't get it. Shouldn't it be the other way round? Shouldn't I be the one calling you a monster and you be the one calling me a foolish mortal or something?"

"I believe the evidence that you are a foolish mortal is in the fact that you are not saying that." Loki said before smirking. "Though you have already proved yourself not to conform to societal expectations."

"Yep, that's me. Darcy, the deviant from expectation." She stood up too because she couldn't stand him looking down on her. "And you know what? You're an asshole. You're possibly one of the biggest jerks I've ever met. I definitely preferred the guard to you, and heck I probably prefer the servant. But I also get really pissed off when people call themselves monsters. You can't just say that and act like it excuses everything you've done. You're calling yourself a monster? Then change it."

"That would be rather difficult given that I am presumed dead." Loki replied.

"Then start with me." She said. "Stop being a prick to me."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I think I am content with being the villain."

And for some reason it got her really angry. Because if he was going to be the villain he should have stayed all intimidating and scary.

And even if he didn't enjoy it, even if his replies were rude and sarcastic he'd actually spoken to her.

Loki wasn't a villain. He was a douchebag. And making him see that sounded pretty inviting right now.

She laughed with hostility. "A villain? Don't make me laugh. You're a fucking joke. You waged a war on mankind that lasted a day. You got shish-kebabed by a fucking elf."

He raised his eyebrows at her pointedly, and she realised she'd kind of made a U-turn in what she as saying.

"I'm just saying," She sighed. "You didn't make a very good villain but you did manage to help save the universe. Maybe you should try being a decent person?"

"And perhaps you should be thankful I did not kill you when I had the chance, a decision I have long since been regretting." He hissed. "Had I known you would talk so incessantly on topics of which you have no knowledge, I would have made a different choice."

He stormed towards the door.

"Yeah well," She said chirpily, knowing nothing would infuriate him more than her responding happily rather than angrily. "I'll see you tonight!"

But he'd left the room, so she didn't see his reaction.

She slumped back into the chair and started banging her head against the table.

Any sane person would have avoided him like the plague, after finding out he was alive. Instead, she'd sought revenge to being cursed by trying to annoy him, and then taken it as her personal mission to get through his layers of sarcasm. All she'd done was find out he had serious issues.

Not that she couldn't have guessed that but who seriously hates themselves that much and still thinks they're better than everyone else?

And why was she still wondering how she could convince him he had a choice in whether or not he was a monster? When did she decide she was up to the job?

But that wasn't it.

She was the only one who knew he was alive. If he believed he was a villain, then that meant he'd be planning something, well, villainous. And being the only one who knew, didn't she have a duty to at least try to stop it?

She'd be damned if he did anything evil on her watch.

And yes, maybe she could even manage to convince herself that was the reason for wanting to spend time in his presence.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Stick To Your Guns by All Time Low (and if I was doing lyrics at the start like the first chapter this would be so great, just saying: I see right through your disguise, I see the lies you hide behind, and this can't stop until you learn a thing or two about sacrifice). Umm so yeah, I have no clue who Daniel Fitzgerald is but apparently he is played by the same actor who played guard Loki so...(fabulous surname though I may be biased). Thank you for all the reviews, you're all great. <em>

_Please review. _


	8. Chapter 8: Something In The Air

In all honesty, Darcy really enjoyed talking to Loki. She didn't know if it was just because it was so much fun annoying him or he was just so easy to mock or what it was but there was something about him that just made her want to be with him.

Of course it may have just been the fact that his voice was like honey to her ears or that he had cheekbones that could make Maleficent cry, but she just didn't think so. And it wasn't even like she thought maybe he was a good person. He wasn't an evil one, but that was a far way off of being good.

No, there was just something about him. A barely perceptible sorrow about him that made each smirk she made make his smile feel like a valuable reward. It was also probably one of the reasons him calling himself a monster had angered her so much, because she didn't see him that way and if she didn't having known him for a day, but having heard only the worst of him for years then he certainly shouldn't either.

And of course, she knew people were not puzzles to be solved but there was an aura of mystery to him, admittedly a lot of Asgardians had a smattering of this but they were so open where Loki was so closed and it just made her want to know more.

So, as things stood, she really had planned to go to Loki's room that night and just talk to him. She would talk and laugh with him and maybe see him smile which would make her get that little flutter in her stomach that she always got when people smiled or laughed because of her but it was somehow more special with Loki, knowing she had made someone so obviously unhappy smile even if it was just for a second.

However, her opinion of him changed the moment she started to read one of the books he had given her.

And then her thoughts changed to whether a knife, her taser or Mjolnir would be the best weapon to kill him with. Clearly the title God of Mischief was well deserved and something he had worked hard to achieve.

However first she had to get through dinner with the others.

Really, it was pretty standard. Fandral provided most of the entertainment with occasional inputs from Volstagg, Thor laughed loudly at them and cast 'subtle' (read: really not subtle at all) looks at Jane across the table while Sif tried not to send disapproving looks at the physicist.

Darcy joined in with lots of the conversation as per usual, the flirting she had had with Fandral for the first couple of days had mostly gone now that they had both accepted nothing would probably happen between them.

After all, it was hard to hear the more crude stories of someone's life and still want to get into bed with them.

But it felt different, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that was because she was keeping an awfully big secret hidden from them.

Not that she really had a choice, but somehow the knowledge that she would have kept the secret anyway made it harder to blame Loki's curse for her not telling them.

Anyway, the only thing she truly registered in the conversation was when Thor brought up the apparent ice age on Earth.

"Heimdall has confirmed there is indeed unusually cold weather on Midgard." Thor said.

"Well, tell the Midgardians to wear some furs, I do not see how that is any concern of ours." Fandral said, idly picking at the food on his plate.

"Perhaps no concern of ours but something the two people at this table who call Midgard their home might be interested." Sif pointed out.

Fandral seemed to suddenly remember Jane and Darcy's existence and at least looked embarrassed about what he had said.

"There is more." Thor said. "Heimdall had not thought anything particularly unusual about it until I asked him about it but he then informed me he had not sensed weather so cold without prior build up since the last attack of the Frost Giants on Midgard."

"Wait, the Frost giants are attacking?" Jane said, choking slightly on her water.

"No," Thor assured her. "It must simply be a coincidence, the Frost Giants would not be able to do anything so serious as attack another world without the Casket of Ancient Winters. However, Heimdall has assured me he shall keep a close watch on the situation."

Darcy just shrugged. It sucked about the weather on Earth but it wasn't like she could do anything about it. Earth would survive, it wasn't like it was the first abnormal weather conditions the planet had faced in recent years.

Her mom would hate it though. Darcy felt guiltily happy that she was not there to hear her mom complain.

After dinner, she grabbed the books Loki had given her and, after assuring they were more or less along the same calibre of the one she had begun to read, marched up to Loki's room.

She hovered outside the door for a moment. She couldn't keep barging in, she supposed, so she raised her hand to the door and knocked.

After all if he didn't reply she could always walk in.

But to her surprise the door opened and Loki's favoured guard disguise stood in the doorway looking at her in irritation.

He sighed. "I suppose there is no stopping your intention to visit?" He said and stepped aside for her to come in.

She grinned smugly, he was finally accepting that she wouldn't be deterred.

Of course, she did not know that he was secretly glad she had come. As strange and puzzling as she was, he did find himself oddly bemused by her and, though he adamantly denied it, he did crave the company of someone who knew who he was. Perhaps it was because he was royal and had been in the spotlight, albeit thoroughly in the shade of Thor, but he found he did not take well to anonymity.

Darcy watched as he cast his sight down the hall to ensure she had not been followed before closing the door.

"Is there a reason for you being here or have you simply come again to test the boundaries of my restraint towards disposing of you?" He asked.

"Actually I'm here to see how well the Asgardian bone structure holds up against my mortal fists." She said.

He tilted his head to the side and looked at her in slight confusion.

In answer she threw the books, which most unlike him he had not noticed until that moment onto the bed.

He feigned innocence, frowning slightly in part hurt and part confusion. And yet his eyes were alight with the kind of mischief that seemed to challenge Darcy's fists.

"You did not like the books?"

She grit her teeth. "Oh you ass."

He smiled at her. "I believed them to be the kind of book you would enjoy."

"I'm surprised, and rather disturbed you've even read them." Darcy said.

"Alas, I regret to inform you that I have not actually read them." He said, starting to smirk now as though unable to stop himself.

"Dude, what?!" She demanded.

"They were birthday presents, over the years, from Fandral. I believe you may appreciate that if he were to read, they would most definitely be the sort of books he would enjoy. I looked at them, ascertained that they were clearly not the kind I myself cared for and a few centuries later gave them to you." Loki said.

Darcy grabbed a pillow off his bed and threw it at him. "Jerk!" She shouted at him as he dodged the pillow, laughing. God, he was like a child putting itching powder in his mom's closet.

"Seriously?" She asked, carrying on. He was still laughing. "The first chapter is an orgy! And it only gets worse from there!"

He frowned at her. "And that is not something you are interested in?" He asked, smiling by the time the words were spoken.

She laughed despite herself, as childish as it was, it was amusing. And, if she was honest, she had to admit that he did deserve to annoy her after all she had done to him. "Oh, you are such a jerk." She said smiling. She shook her head, quickly getting over her annoyance in artistic appreciation of his acts.

She walked over to his bookshelf. "Alright, it was very funny. Now can you recommend some decent books or I'll just pick myself."

She pulled out a book at random and began flicking through it. It seemed to be about a group of warriors and their adventures in various battles. Darcy gave it an unimpressed look. Whilst she had no reservations against books like that, it did seem to be the most stereotypically Asgardian book ever.

"Try these." He said, pulling two books out from beside a shelf further along.

He held them out to her. She looked at them sceptically before turning her suspicious look on him.

He exhaled softly in amusement. "I assure you these were not a gift from Fandral."

"Yeah, but I have no assurances for your personal tastes either." She said, taking the books. "For all I know it's the Asgardian equivalent of a My Little Pony catalogue or a Ruling The World For Dummies book."

She turned the top book over in her hands. The thicker of the two, it was bound in thick leather and the pages were thicker than any book on Earth. There was no blurb so she slowly flicked through a couple of pages while Loki looked on, almost as though he cared for her approval on them.

"A political drama?" She asked, smiling slightly.

"You studied something similar did you not?" He asked.

She blinked at him. That was oddly thoughtful. "Yeah but…I didn't think you'd remember that. Thanks."

He nodded at the other book and Darcy turned to it. It was considerably smaller like an average paperback, not bound like the others but in a thin skin tied with ropes. From the state of the cover and pages it was one that had been read many times. After a brief look through it seemed like the account of some discoverer or something.

Not quite what Darcy would usually go for, but it was better than orgies.

"And no hardcore sex in here?" She asked. Not that she particularly minded sex in books (okay so it was quite nice at times) but Asgardian authors made EL James look great in that regard.

"No." He smiled reassuringly.

She walked over to his bed and sat down on it, not particularly caring of any implications that might have because she was in jeans and a sweater and she wasn't sexy enough to allure anyone just sat in that.

"Where did you even start reading?" She asked. "Because I can't imagine Odin encouraging literary prowess."

Loki's lips tightened slightly at the mention of Odin. "No, not quite. His tales were always of war and spoken from either experience or word of mouth. I believe it was the closest he came to attempting to teach Thor and I moral behaviour."

She smirked. "Okay come on, he's a douche but that bad?"

"Let us say it is no coincidence that Thor was banished to Midgard for attempted genocide and I…well I believe my acts are fairly self-evident." Loki said.

"Okay, but you used to be the good one. Well mischievous but not, like, genocidal. Right?" Darcy asked.

"I spent more time with my mother." Loki said in answer. "She read with me as well as teaching me magic."

Loki looked away, and Darcy remembered that Frigga had died. Jane had gone to the funeral. She hadn't mentioned whether Loki had been there too, but surely they would have escorted him out of the dungeons for that? The way he spoke of his mother, the sudden tension his limbs…they couldn't argue he didn't at least deserve to be present for her funeral?

A tightness in her throat told her she already knew the answer. She felt her eyes water but she blinked the semblance of tears away. She knew little, really, of Loki but she knew he would not appreciate tears shed on his behalf. Would not want her pity.

"She sounds like she was amazing." Darcy said truthfully. "Everyone loves her, I haven't heard one bad thing said about her."

"She was," Loki said, turning back to her, not looking at her but at least facing her general direction. A sad smile was on his lips and she just wanted to hug him but there was still a slight chance he hadn't changed as much as Jane's account of Svartalfheim had made her believe. In which case, she'd probably be rewarded for her hug with a knife in her back.

"Tell me about her." Darcy suggested quietly. She couldn't help but believe it would help his grief yet at the same time she did not think he would deem her, a mere mortal, worthy of hearing about the one person he clearly still loved.

Well, Thor as well, if his last words could be believed, but given that he was standing in front of her rather than, well, dead, she could not help but regard those words doubtfully.

He hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath. "Very well." He said.

He spoke for a long time, telling her memories of Frigga that made Darcy periodically smile in happiness at the memories he was telling her, or fight back tears at the fact he no longer had the one person in the world he seemed to care for.

A few hours later, he was silent. "What of you?" He asked.

"Excuse me?" Darcy asked, unsure what he was asking.

"Your parents. Do you like them?" He asked.

Darcy smirked. "Curious about the mortal?"

"More…intrigued." He said.

"They're synonyms, asshole. Accept that you are interested." Darcy grinned.

"You do not have to tell me." Loki said. She could tell that while he was curious he wasn't interested enough to pursue the topic.

Darcy sighed. "Fine. Well I like both my parents. My mom's kind of like me in terms of personality but she's also super smart and really into science. My dad died a few years ago in Afghanistan."

"Afghanistan?" Loki asked. "That is familiar…"

"It's a war that was still going on when you invaded." She was a little uncomfortable bringing that up. It wasn't that she'd forgiven him for it, more just avoided thinking about it because it was so confusing.

Loki nodded. "He was a soldier?"

"A doctor." Darcy said, looking away. She didn't talk about her dad much. It wasn't that it was too painful it was just that she knew him. How could she give anyone else a picture of who he was when they'd never known him? But then again Loki had done it for her. "He wasn't even supposed to be there but there was some emergency and…it was a bomb in the road. He wasn't in the centre of the explosion but the shrapnel and stuff…"

She certainly didn't like thinking about his death. The fact he was a military doctor really didn't say much about him but that's all anyone ever really cared about.

"He was great." She said suddenly. "I mean, people get romanticised when they die. I'm not saying he was perfect. He made sexist comments sometimes, like if I ever had a boyfriend he got all possessive, wanting to meet them like who I date was his choice. And he was kind of arrogant, always thinking he knew best. Oh, and don't get me started on me telling him I was bi, he told me I had to choose and that it wasn't a thing. But he was really kind and when he wasn't stationed abroad, he was always there for me like every spare second he had he wanted to spend with me and…"

She trailed off, suddenly realising that Loki probably didn't care.

But to her surprise, he looked slightly enraptured by her talking.

"You do not have to stop." Loki said. "You listened about Frigga, I would not deny you the opportunity to talk about your own lost parent."

"Nah it's okay, it's boring." Darcy said.

"On the contrary. It is quite interesting seeing you lost in thought and memories." He said.

She had to hide her smile, or Loki would realise he had said something nice and try to make up for it with thirty or so mean comments.

"Okay." She said. And told him.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god, no way!" Darcy said in between fits of hysterics.<p>

"Yes, and I assure you, he did look rather fetching in the bride's gown." Loki replied, smiling widely.

"And they just didn't realise it was Thor rather than the goddess of beauty?" Darcy asked, unable to understand how they could make that mistake.

"Well he _was_ wearing a veil…" Loki said.

"He's made of muscle! And just…I cannot with this story…you are so lying." Darcy said.

Loki smiled. "I believe Thor wishes I were. Actually I wish I were, the image of him in that dress was, in truth, scarring." Loki winced. "But yes, giants do not have the best eye sight. Either way once he was in he was able to use Mjolnir to kill everyone once again saving people by hitting things. He is very skilled at it."

Darcy glared at him. "Don't belittle Thor because you're jealous of his dress."

"Well, it was a very pretty dress." Loki joked.

"And you weren't a bridesmaid?" Darcy asked.

"No, the Midgardians made that part up. Apparently no tale in which someone does something laughable is allowed, unless I am there to do something just as bad if not worse." Loki said.

"So you haven't cross dressed?"

"That is not what you asked." Loki said.

"Wait what?" She asked.

Loki grinned. "A tale, I think, for another time, Miss Lewis."

* * *

><p>"And yeah. Then I got into Berkeley, and I think everyone I knew died of shock." Loki looked at her in confusion. He was sat on a chair by a desk across the room from her standard position sitting on his bed. "It's a really good college. Especially for political science." She shrugged. "I'm not exactly considered the smartest, but I guess my essays must have just been really passionate or something."<p>

"Why?" Loki asked.

She narrowed her eyes slightly in trepidation, unsure if he was leading to an insult or not.

"I mean no offense," He said. "I am simply curious. Why are you so interested in politics?"

Darcy shrugged. She knew perfectly well why she was so interested, but it bored people so she tried to play it cool. "It's kind of hard not to be, living in America. Most of the people in government are idiots. And I'm tired of old white men thinking their opinions are the be all and end all on a subject. And they pass those opinions onto their kids, so I had a lot of jerks in high school telling me to shut up and go make them a sandwich. Like I know that's not directly related to politics, but I was annoyed and felt like I had a voice that deserved to be heard."

"And you have not stopped talking ever since." Loki smiled. Darcy contemplated the notion of throwing another pillow at him.

"And besides, the degree has the word science in so my mom was pleased." Darcy said.

"Your mother?" Loki asked.

"Yeah, she's a big scientist on Earth." Darcy said, not really wanting to talk about her mom because then she'd start worrying about her. "She's the reason I got the internship with Jane."

"You are no scientist?" Loki asked.

Darcy laughed. "Oh hell no. I am only good for getting coffee. I think the only time I'm helpful is when I point out the obvious, Jane always looks for some complex solution to things and normally omits the 'well they could be gods' explanation that it is my job to provide."

"Yet you are still interning for her." Loki pointed out.

"Yeah well, she's like family. Her and Erik. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to hate you for Erik. You saved Jane but your glowy stick thing really fucked with his head. While Jane was on Asgard in pretty dresses attending balls all while battling some ancient energy that was slowly killing her, I was bailing Erik out of prison for streaking nude across stone henge." Darcy said.

"We have established your lack of wisdom in not hating me, I believe." Loki said.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "We aren't starting that again. Just apologise for Erik."

He looked at her in a way that made it clear that was never going to happen.

She threw herself backwards on Loki's bed so she was lying staring at his ceiling and sighed. "Maybe one day…"

* * *

><p>"Oh my God, that book." Darcy said, walking into the library.<p>

Guard Loki looked up as she entered, eyebrows furrowing. "Which one?"

"This." She said, waving the smaller one. "I just finished it and I…just wow."

Loki nodded understandably. "Yes, it is one of my favourites."

Darcy wasn't even going to think about the fact he'd given her one of his favourite books to read.

"It's like poetry, the way it's written. I haven't read something that beautiful since The Great Gatsby." Darcy rushed to explain. Sometimes you just read a book and felt the need to scream about it and sometimes it was so good you needed someone else to listen. "And just the mind set of Tyr like you are aware that he is wrong but you're also on his side? And the symbolism of the…just wow."

This was high praise from Darcy. She normally didn't give a fuck about writing devices like symbolism, she liked well developed characters and witty dialogue which the other book Loki had given her had provided.

This one though…this was different. A book that once read had become a part of her like a memory that had changed her. Few books had done this to her before: The Bell Jar and The Perks of Being A Wallflower.

Oh and Harry Potter but that went without saying. Everyone loved Harry Potter or they'd never read the books.

"I need more books." Darcy said.

"You can go get some." Loki said, frowning at her. She'd barged into his room enough time that he probably didn't care, she thought.

"Nope, I need your recommendations again. Come on." She said.

And though he didn't want to leave the book he was reading he found himself following her, not even considering the fact that he was following her commands.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Maybe Tonight by The Summer Set. Thanks for reviews. I'm doing nanowrimo so will hopefully get lots written for this. <em>

_Please review. _


	9. Chapter 9: Your Little Mind Games

"You are leaving once more?" Erika asked as Darcy said goodbye and turned to leave.

"Yeah, I'm just going to wander the palace…maybe go read in the library." Loki hadn't been in the library today. Not that that was a first, but she still felt kind of sad that he hadn't been there, even when most days they just read in each other's company.

Erika gave her a thin lipped smile.

"What?" Darcy asked, eyebrows furrowing as she looked at the hand maiden.

"It is nothing." She said, smiling knowingly.

"Dude, what is it?" Darcy asked.

"It is simply that you are quite made up for simply wandering the palace." Erika said, gesturing to Darcy's carefully applied make up and curled hair.

What could she say? She liked to intimidate Loki. Evil dictator or not, he was a guy who liked girls, and more than once she'd caught him looking at her oddly, as though considering her as attractive but unable to understand how he could feel attraction to a mortal.

That or she'd just said something really weird.

Darcy grinned at Erika. "Yeah well, maybe I'll run into a hot Asgardian."

"Maybe it will be entirely accidental…" Erika said, still smiling. Darcy was glad she'd finally dropped the respectful servant attitude. She was a twenty three year old intern struggling through a mountain of debts from her student loans. She did not get a servant.

"You know me far too well." Darcy said. It was very truthful given that they'd been there less than a month. It was rather disconcerting that someone could get such a firm grasp on her character in such a short time.

"Are you sure that you will be warm enough?" Erika asked. Asgard was unusually cold at the moment and Erika didn't understand how clothes with multiple small holes in could be warm. Apparently knitwear did not exist on Asgard, and Darcy was yet to step up from her jeans and sweaters.

"I'll be fine. See you later." Darcy said as she slipped out of the door.

Darcy wandered round the palace for a bit before going to Loki's room, just to make sure no one was following her. Now that she was actually- what friends? Loki was definitely her friend but she didn't think she was his. She still got the impression he only tolerated her because she was the only one who knew who he was- anyway, whatever she was with him she liked him and had grown rather paranoid about him being thrown back into the dungeons.

Or worse because it was hardly a secret he was only alive because of Frigga and she wasn't here anymore. Not that Loki had said that of course. He'd talk about who Frigga was, sure, and tell of his exploits when he was younger but his relationship with Frigga? His feelings? Anything personal?

Hell would freeze over first.

She knocked on his door like she normally did. She waited, normally he answered pretty quickly.

She glanced down the hall, making sure there were no guards there or anything.

Then she heard the sound of the door opening.

"Hey." Darcy beamed in greeting.

"No." Loki said, voice flat. Darcy was about to roll her eyes and push past him. He started most of their conversations like this: cold and snide like he'd decided to make an effort to hate her again. It usually took her ten minutes tops to have him smirking and telling her stories about Thor being an idiotic puppy.

However, then he carried on. He shook his head slightly, eyes downcast. His inky hair was messier then usual and that was saying a heck of a lot. "No. Not today. Please."

_Please?_ Holy fucking shit.

"Are you okay?" Darcy blurted immediately, her voice high in her concern.

"Yes." He said somewhat distractedly. Most of his face was shadowed by his hair as he looked down at her, so she couldn't see any change in his expression. "Just leave."

Darcy swallowed, glancing down the hall again. "Let's not do this here."

Before he could protest she had slipped past him, not pushed like she usually would.

She heard him exhale in annoyance. "What exactly is so difficult to understand?" He demanded.

He shut the door and rounded on her, head up and glaring at her in anger.

She tilted her head to the side, giving him the best unimpressed expression that she could muster. "What is so difficult about me being told to leave the minute I arrive? What's the matter?" She added softly because she knew something was wrong. This wasn't his usual him being an ass. It was him reverting to tried and tested tactics of getting people to hate him.

Darcy mentally rolled her eyes. Any fricking human could sense all this stuff, if the Asardians paid a bit more attention to each other rather than war maybe they could have sensed he was going off the edge. Like Thor had told her Loki was adopted and didn't handle the news well. She sensed there was something else but he hadn't told her. Either way that was surely enough. Well not enough to justify what he did but Thor had said it like he couldn't fathom how someone could possibly be upset at the news they were adopted.

"The matter?" Loki repeated with his eyebrows raised. "At this very moment it is you. Leave. Now."

"And can I ask why I am suddenly a problem when I haven't been for the past two weeks?" Darcy asked.

His lip curled nastily. "Two weeks of me tolerating you in the hope you would leave. Clearly that failed so I will be blunt. You are not wanted. Leave."

"Two weeks of you tolerating me? Yeah, because you were so welcoming at first. I'd say you're going back to being blunt. And for a God of lies you really are an awful liar. Now stop snapping at me, and tell me what the hell is wrong." Darcy said, her voice not rising once.

He was glaring at her in a way that made her think he was wishing for a magic sceptre to mind control her with. Probably because something was clearly wrong and mind control was the only way she'd leave him now.

"And if there were something wrong you would expect me to tell you? A mortal?" He asked derisively.

Darcy turned from him, walking across the room. "Oh, don't give me that 'mortal' nonsense. If you hated us as much as you claimed I wouldn't have caught you checking me out half a dozen times."

"One of the few uses of mortals." Loki continued in response. "However you are far too irritating for your breasts to redeem."

"Okay grumpy, first point," Darcy started, entirely done with his bullshit. "My breasts make up for anything. That's not debatable because they are fantastic. Second of all, do not start with the 'mortals are fine to fuck but not to talk to' nonsense because that would make you a hypocrite and we do not have to add that to your rather extensive list of character flaws. And third of all will you stop? You can insult me as much as you want Loki, it's not going to work. You're trying to get rid of me, I understand. Clearly I am not going anywhere, so give it up."

"Get out." He snarled. "Now."

She placed her hands on her hips. "What? I'm supposed to be scared of you now? Dude it's not going to happen. Stop."

His eyes fluttered shut for a few seconds and Darcy tried not to think how gorgeous he looked at that moment because a) he'd just insulted her a lot and b) this was clearly not the best moment.

He breathed in before he opened his eyes again. He didn't look happy but he also seemed resigned to the fact that she wasn't leaving.

Darcy covered the few steps between them, and gently reached out for his hand, intending to run her thumb reassuringly across his skin. However, at her touch, he yanked his hand back and stared at her in shock.

Darcy gulped. Maybe that was a more intimate gesture on Asgard?

However, instead of becoming angry, he winced like he had been reminded of some memory.

And Darcy knew it was awful that she was thinking about this at a time like now, but she couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever had someone, outside of family, that he had loved. Anyone who had taken his hand in such a gentle way before. Or perhaps it was someone in his family. Did Frigga perhaps hold his hand when he was younger to comfort him?

Either way she was certain there was some bad memory attached.

Loki turned away from her, walking to sit on the edge of his bed.

Darcy sat on the other side, swinging her legs on so she was sat cross legged facing him. Though he was sat facing the wall he was tilted to her so she took this as an invitation to conversation.

"You don't have to tell me." She said.

Loki's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"I mean, if you want to, I'm here for you. And you can tell me. But you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I do not understand why you care." Loki said, going to lie down on his bed and presumably sulk.

"Because I care about you." Darcy answered.

This made him pause in lying down so that he was sat facing her, just inches away.

His eyes locked on hers with hesitant fear. Afraid of her answer, but was he hoping for a confirmation or a denial?

"Why?" He asked.

Darcy frowned, uncertain of what he meant. Why did she care? Wasn't that a bit obvious?

She shrugged. "Because you're my friend. I know I irritate you, and I know you regret the day I wandered into your room." His expression didn't change. There was a part of her that had been hoping for a denial of these accusations. "But I like you." It felt rather odd saying stuff like this. Too cheesy and Hollywood but heaven only knew Loki needed it spelt out for him. "I like your sarcasm and your mischief and the fact you lend me awesome books and I like talking to you and I like you."

Loki said nothing but turned away from her, his expression unreadable.

"And yeah, I get it. To you I am just some annoying mortal. But I'm also the only one who knows you are even alive. Really if you wanted to talk to someone I'm kind of your best option."

Loki waited a moment before he spoke.

"You are not."

Darcy frowned in confusion. "Not your best option?" She was fairly certain she was given that anyone else seeing him would be like "AHH ZOMBIE/GHOST/VAMPIRE!"

"Not some annoying mortal." He corrected.

Darcy's heart beat accelerated ever so slightly. Was he being serious? Did he actually see her as a friend? Because from Loki that was like the biggest compliment ever. "I'm not?"

"No." He confirmed. Before bitterly adding. "And that is a problem."

Darcy leant closer, pecking him softly on the cheek before she even knew what she was doing.

It was only a quick kiss, on the cheek and over in a second, but Darcy felt a weightless, fluttery feeling take root in her stomach and spread out in all directions. She felt lightheaded in a way that didn't make sense for such a quick, insignificant kiss.

Was it just because she'd done something so risky? Kissing Loki (even though it barely counted, she'd done more when she was twelve) was surely not a clever thing to do?

It was only a kiss on his cheek but given how much she adored his cheekbones it felt so much more intimate than that.

She pulled away slowly, eyes on him warily desperate to see his reaction but he was staring at her, an odd look on his face. It took her a moment to realise what it was. He had liked the kiss, the contact of her lips on his skin and clearly wanted more.

And he hated himself for it.

Darcy's mouth felt very dry all of a sudden so she swallowed before speaking. "I don't see how that's a problem."

His jaw was tensed and he lifted his head slightly in contemplation. That was rude, his jawline and neck, his Adams apple…it was all too attractive for him to be presenting himself like that.

"Miss Lewis-" He said.

"No." Darcy interrupted, sudden worry flaring in her. "No, please don't 'Miss Lewis' me, Loki."

It was true that he'd never called her Darcy, only ever Miss Lewis but she'd found it endearing. Polite and somewhat invigorating like a Jane Austen novel.

But this sounded resigned, like it was going to send her lightheaded feeling crashing to the ground.

"I am afraid you may have been given the wrong impression-" He started again.

"Oh my god, no, stop." Darcy interrupted again, suppressing a smile. Shit she'd forgotten she was in Asgard. Was kissing here like a marriage proposal?

Then she remembered Fandral and the amount of girls he'd slept with so if that was the case he was world's biggest polygamist.

Still, she couldn't help but find it adorable that he had taken it that way. I mean sure she'd kissed him but it was hardly making out or a declaration of love.

"I definitely do not have the wrong impression." She said. "Like I said, before I didn't even think you liked me. As a friend." She hurried to explain. "Kissing on the cheek...it's purely platonic. I just…wanted to show you I cared for you I guess. I mean you're the liesmith. You of all people should know how fickle words can be."

He breathed deeply, Darcy could see his chest moving beneath the leather he wore.

She smiled at him softly. "I care for you Loki." She knew she was repeating it a lot but with Loki she felt she had to drive the message home.

"Well, don't." He answered, scowling.

"Too late." She replied.

"Stop." He said, standing up as though his proximity to her alone was too much.

"Stop what? Caring for you?" She asked. Did he not understand how that worked?

He turned on her, fury marring his featured. "Yes!" He snapped. "Have you not seen what happens to those who make that mistake?"

"Caring for you isn't a mistake Loki." Darcy answered, resisting a sigh. She couldn't have stumbled across a less temperamental God who was supposed to be dead could she? The tingly feeling was leaving and now she just felt tired of reassuring him. "Well except for the fact that it's kind of stupid because you're a dick most of the time."

"Then why do you?" He demanded. "If I am as awful as you claim, then why do you care? How foolish a mortal are you?"

"Just because you're an ass doesn't mean you're a bad person. I mean you've been alive four months now in secret and no one has died and only one government organisation has fallen so that's pretty good."

"You are an idiot." Loki said viciously.

Darcy felt her blood pump in anger, she could handle him being sullen and horrible but this was a vulnerability for her. She had enough scientists calling her stupid – not Jane or Erik though Erik had certainly said enough derogatory comments to exclude him from the exceptions- but particularly the ones they worked with who felt a degree in political science was the same level of academia as graduating middle school.

"You know, you're getting awfully wound up about me caring for you." She stated, standing up too to face him. "Which is odd because if you think I shouldn't so much, shouldn't you be laughing at my foolishness rather than getting angry about it?"

"I am merely pointing out the stupidity of your act." Loki said, lips pressed into a thin line.

"Well I think there's only one explanation for it." Darcy said.

"And that would be?" Loki asked.

"That you care for me too."

The silence that followed was almost palpable.

"Get out." He snarled viciously a moment later. He had paled.

"What, because you can't stand to face the truth?" She replied angrily.

She felt a sudden weight against her chest that pushed her against the wall.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She demanded.

"I have asked you to leave far too many times." He said, eyes narrowed at her.

He flicked his hand and that weight was suddenly behind her, pushing her so quickly towards the door that she didn't have time to glance at Loki before she was being shoved out of the door, which slammed shut behind her.

Furious, she turned back to it.

She yanked on the handle but it wouldn't budge. She turned on her side and started slamming her shoulder against the door.

It was locked tight.

"JERK!" She screamed at him, not caring who heard. Let them discover he was alive.

Because Loki was right. She was an idiot for caring for him. And she was going to rectify that at once.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Hit Me Where It Hurts The Most by Every Avenue. Thanks for all your reviews. <em>


	10. Chapter 10: Getting Heavy With The Devil

"Darcy, are you okay?" Jane asked, frowning over her lunch.

"Yeah." Darcy said. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You've just seemed kind of odd for the past few weeks. And especially so today." Jane said.

"Nah, I'm fine." Darcy replied adamantly.

"You _have _appeared rather distracted recently, Lady Darcy." Fandral said, agreeing with Jane.

"Maybe I've just got sick of seeing your face all the time." Darcy teased.

"Ha," Volstagg said, slapping her back proudly. "She is fine."

"Her common sense appears to be intact, at least." Sif said with a smirk.

"I disagree, this is clearly a sign of insanity." Fandral replied with a fake look of concern.

Darcy grinned. "You wish."

"Where were you last night anyway?" Jane asked. "I came to see if you wanted to watch this meteor shower with us, but I couldn't find you."

"I was in the library." Darcy said.

"I checked there." Jane said.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have oft searched for you oft an evening." Fandral added, frowning at Darcy. "Where is it that you go?"

"Yeah, wouldn't you like to know, I'm certain your motives aren't as innocent as a meteor shower." Darcy said with an eye roll.

"You wound me." Fandral feigned being insulted.

"Anyway," Darcy carried on. "I just wander round the palace sometimes. Find different places to read and explore and stuff." It wasn't completely a lie because she did do this. It wasn't like she spent all of her time with Loki. "Last night I found this room that looked pretty quiet and nice, so I read there."

Thor sighed. "It is a shame you never were able to meet Loki. With the amount of reading you do, you would have gotten along well, I believe."

Darcy chewed her food slowly to give her time to formulate a response. The longer she spent with Loki, the harder it was to remember how she would be expected to react. Now however, it wasn't exactly hard to insult him. After all, he'd used magic as a club bouncer to kick her out, and that was just rude.

"Would that be before or after he called me a puny mortal, and commanded that I kneel for him?" Darcy enquired.

Thor frowned. "I meant before that. I doubt he did much reading during those days."

Darcy opened her mouth to insult Loki again, when a guard came up to them.

Darcy saw the gold and turned to glare, her mind automatically assuming it was Loki. It wasn't, however. Unless Loki was using a new guard disguise, which didn't really make sense.

"Sire," The guard nodded respectfully to Thor. "The All Father requests your immediate presence."

"Did he specify that I come alone?" Thor asked, standing up, his manner serious almost immediately.

Darcy felt a slight pang of longing for the cute Thor who smashed cups and smiled for facebook pictures. He hadn't changed that much but she wasn't really used to Wise-King Thor.

"He did not, sire." The guard said.

Thor looked at his friends and didn't even need to say anything before everyone but Jane and Darcy was stood up. Jane followed a split second later and Darcy, unsure of whether she was invited or not just tagged on the end.

They walked into the throne room where Darcy had met Odin for the first and only time. Thor took them through to a side room which made Darcy immediately think "war room" because of the large table in the centre that she could imagine holding a map and army figures to push around.

Odin stood on the other side of the table, and nodded to Thor as he walked in as well as the other Asgardians. He frowned slightly at the sight of Jane and Darcy, but said nothing, evidently deciding that whilst he did not think mortals deserved to be here they were also not important enough to make a fuss about.

Darcy had to refrain from rolling her eyes at him.

Then she thought of Loki and kind of wanted to like Odin just to spite him.

Even if Odin did make that hard.

"You summoned me." Thor said to his father.

Odin nodded, his expression set gravely. "This weather is not natural." He said, looking out of a window at the snow coated grounds of Asgard.

"Umm, it is rather odd, your majesty." Fandral said, clearly unsure of what else to say.

Thor took a less polite route, scowling at Odin in annoyed confusion. "Is that all you called me here to say? You said I was required urgently and-"

"My son, I am not being poetic. This weather is not a natural anomaly, but a forced one which starting on Midgard has spread throughout the nine realms, or so says Heimdall."

The annoyance fled Thor's face but the confusion remained. "I do not understand. How is that possible?"

Odin sighed. "The Frost Giants." He said.

Darcy didn't have a clue what a frost giant was but from the look on the Asgardians's faces they were something unpleasant and hated. Jane did not share their look but she clearly recognised the name, so it was just Darcy left clueless.

"The what?" She asked, before realising maybe she should have asked that later.

Odin glared at her as though he could not believe a foolish mortal had asked him so brazenly. So much for his attempt at hospitality when they had first arrived.

"The Jotuns of Jotenheim." Odin clarified, an edge to his voice that made Darcy want to infuriate him, because screw Loki, she really disliked Odin.

"Inventive name." She muttered.

Before Odin could snap at her Thor spoke. "The Jotuns have been relatively docile- at least to the other realms- for a millennia, why would they attempt this now?"

"Their lack of violence was not through choice." Odin said. "Without the Casket of Ancient Winters they lacked the power to reach the other realms."

"Then what has changed?" Thor asked.

Odin looked at him pointedly.

"That cannot be!" Sif said. "The casket is in the vault."

"Apparently," Odin said bitterly. "It can be. The weather was investigated when it started on Midgard. This morning the vault was searched. The casket was gone, a replica in its place."

"And none of the alarms triggered?" Fandral asked.

"No." Odin replied.

"But who could have done this." Thor asked.

Darcy had a pretty good idea who. Her fingers curled into involuntary fists.

"I do not know. But you are the only ones who know the casket has been returned to the Jotuns, for now we must keep it that way. The last war cost many lives, I do not wish to think of the panic the thought of another one might cause."

They all nodded.

"Thor, I would like you to lead a small group," Thor looked at his friends, who nodded. "To Jotunheim. Try to find out what happened to it but please be subtle."

Thor's jaw tightened slightly, obviously thinking that subtle interrogation was not his area of expertise but he nodded nonetheless.

"We shall leave immediately." Thor said and they all left.

In the throne room, Thor quickly said farewell to Jane and the Asgardians were gone in moments.

"This is bad." Jane said. "Really bad."

Darcy nodded. "Anyway, see you."

"Wait!" Jane called. "Where are you going?"

"Library." Darcy said, the word slipping to her lips immediately.

"What? Now?" Jane asked incredulously.

"Yeah..." Darcy said. "I want to read up on Frost Giants and this Casket of Ancient Winds-"

"Winters." Jane corrected.

"Yeah." Darcy said. "I mean I want to help and books are pretty much all I can do. It might give some clue of who has it." And this was all very true, in fact maybe Darcy would go to the library once she'd washed Loki's blood off.

"That's…that's a really good idea actually. I'll come too." Jane said.

"Wait, what?" Darcy asked, slightly alarmed. She wouldn't physically be able to go to Loki if Jane insisted on coming too.

"I'll come help," Jane said with a smile. "I have three degrees Darcy, it's not like I'm a stranger to libraries."

"Um….okay…well I'll meet you there, I just have to go get something from my room quickly." Darcy said.

"What is it you need to get?" Jane asked.

"Umm." Jesus, she was a bad liar, how did they not all know Loki was alive already? "Notebooks." She said. "You know, so we can make notes on the important stuff."

"Oh, good plan. I'll get some too." Jane said, walking to the door.

Darcy sighed in relief the moment Jane was gone.

Then she remembered that jerk of a God that was supposed to be fucking dead.

Of course it might not have been Loki but Darcy literally had no doubt in her mind.

And it would be easy enough to explain why she was late to Jane. She could just say she'd got into conversation with Erika or something.

So she marched straight up to Loki's room and barged in without knocking, only thinking when she saw him that there was a possibility he would not have been there.

"What are-" he began.

"It was you, wasn't it?" She hissed at him angrily.

"What was me?" He scowled, looking down at her with confusion. It was an expression that reminded her of Thor's from earlier.

"The Casket of Ancient Winters." Darcy spat.

"Ahh." Loki nodded, speaking nonchalantly. "So it has been discovered missing?"

Darcy grit her teeth, angry not even beginning to cover how she felt. What he had done was bad enough without him speaking of it so casually.

"Yes. It has." She said through her gritted teeth.

"It took them rather a long time." He stated, sounding rather disappointed with them.

"So when did you do it?" She demanded.

Loki shrugged. "The day I arrived back on Asgard."

"Wait, that'd be the day the Dark Elves attacked, right?" Darcy asked. "Holy shit that was months ago. How did you fucking manage that?"

Because angry as she was she couldn't help but be slightly impressed at how easily he had pulled this off.

He smirked. "It is rather easy to walk into the vault when you are the Allfather, I have found."

"You impersonated Odin? And it worked?" She asked. What if Odin had just wandered in?

"Well there was the slight distraction of Thor arriving. I believe I did rather a good impression of the All Father meaning that he raised no questions when he spoke to me." Loki said.

Darcy shook her head incredulously. "That's a lot of fucking effort for a casket." She said, all of her effort going into not screaming. "Why?"

Loki shrugged. "Just a bit of fun really."

Darcy felt her eyes narrow.

"'Just a bit of fun?'" She repeated in quiet anger. Her words were clipped with fury. "Fun is causing a realm-wide snow storm? Do you know how many people will have died in countries that weren't prepared? Homeless people? People who can't afford fuel? And that's just on Earth you fucking prick."

Loki's eyes flicked away from hers for a second, before they returned to hers. "Yes well, it would hardly be the first time I have been the cause of deaths."

It was taking everything she had not to slap him. She knew Jane would have by now but she'd been raised to believe that hitting people was always wrong. Her mom would probably agree this occasion warranted it but…

"You asshole." She spat. He was close to her now, barely inches away, looking down at her impassively like she wasn't screaming hate at him. Her lip curled in hatred.

"This is your fun? What the actual fuck is wrong with you, Loki? Jesus Christ! You don't feel anything? No regret? You are such a jerk! You fucking-"

She was cut off by his lips pressing firmly on hers.

Startled, she didn't respond, and he pulled his lips away smirking, though his hand was still on the small of her back where he'd pulled her closer. His lips had been surprisingly soft and she wondered distractedly whether he used chapstick or something.

Her lips tingled where he'd touched them, and the fluttery feeling was back, mixing with her anger and hatred so that she felt flustered.

"What the hell was that for?" She demanded because they were the first words that came to her.

Loki shrugged, smirking down at her in a way that left her wondering whether she wanted to smack the expression away, or kiss it. Goddammit it wasn't fair. She was trying to be angry- heck she was angry- and his hotness was ruining it.

"You are awfully beautiful when angry." He stated. "And I wanted you to stop talking."

Her mouth opened in slight shock at that, just compliment her before saying something like that? That jerk!

"Fuck you." She hissed, grabbing handfuls of his leather clothes and yanking his face back to hers.

She turned at the same time, pushing him up against the wall.

His lips were closed for only a split-second, before they opened against hers, responding immediately. Her tongue flicked into his mouth, running gently across the roof of his mouth while her lips pressed forcefully against his.

One of her hands had moved against the wall, while her other still clutched his clothes.

Meanwhile, his hand had gone to her waist, pulling her against him.

_God, he was a good kisser_, she thought angrily because he really, really didn't deserve to be. His tongue ran over her teeth and she felt like she might collapse in his arms. Instead she ran her tongue gently over his lip before biting it, causing him to moan against her.

Her hand that had gripped his clothes moved to entangle in his hair, the strands silky soft between her fingers.

She kissed him for what felt like hours- glorious hours- before her lips moved away from his, across his jaw and up to his cheeks because…oh, his fucking cheekbones.

And then further down, she kissed his neck, and he arched it under her like he wanted to show off his perfect bone structure even more, but she wasn't looking at his jaw. There was a spot on his neck which caused him to shiver when she kissed it so she went further, pressing hard kisses there, sucking and gently biting before running her tongue over it and he inhaled sharply in pleasure.

"Darcy," He moaned against her.

"Shut the fuck up." She told him, because she was so angry, and he was so hot, and the last thing she needed right now was him talking.

When she finished, the skin was already purpling. He was going to have one hell of a hickey.

She pulled him away from the wall, wanting more and kind of liking pushing him around.

He seemed to be pretty into it as well, because it wasn't like he was protesting.

She pushed him onto his bed, not thinking about that time she'd kissed him on it because that was far too emotionally invested and this…well, there was nothing romantic about this at all. She just wanted to fuck him until he screamed her name.

She climbed on, straddling him where he sat and grabbing hold of his clothes again. She tore the leather coat off of him before staring at the rest.

"How the fuck do I get this off?" She asked.

He smirked at her. "You want it off?"

Her hands went into his hair again, this time pulling more aggressively because fuck it, he was a god and if it hurt, he deserved it anyway.

Her lips went back onto his, both of them kissing the other desperately. She could practically feel her lips swelling. She needed his touch, needed it everywhere.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she pulled away from him. His hands were on her waist, but hers still pinned down his shoulders.

"Now take your fucking clothes off." She demanded. She wanted his skin under her lips, her bare skin to be touched by his hands.

He grinned. Wow, who knew Loki, destroyer of worlds was into submissive sex.

His leather was gone in a quick flash of greenish light leaving only a green undershirt and soft trousers.

She arched an eyebrow. "I think I said off."

He smirked again, that same smirk that had her first kissing him. "Ladies first."

Darcy yanked her jumper off impatiently. If he wanted the rest off, then he could take it off himself.

"Now." She commanded but didn't wait for him to do it, and instead dragged him up so that she could pull the shirt over his head herself.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him. She'd been expecting skinniness from his slim frame and thick leather but- her finger trailed along the muscles appreciatively- he was pretty cut.

His hands went back to her waist, sending heat rushing where he touched her bare skin.

He grinned, eyes brimming with lust as he looked at her shirtless.

He didn't admire her long, instead pulling her closer, his fingers nimbly untying her bra with ease she didn't think any male ever had. He discarded of it, hands moving across her skin.

And normally Darcy didn't much care for guys touching her boobs but everywhere Loki touched left her skin aching for more. Her back arched, pushing against him.

His lips were on her then, kissing every inch of her exposed skin with reverence she didn't think he was even capable of. When he reached her hardened nipples, she couldn't help her nails from scratching down his back. As he placed one in his mouth, she involuntarily gasped, her nails digging in even more.

From there he moved up, kissing at her neck and collar bone, and she couldn't refrain from touching him herself any longer.

She pushed him away so that he fell onto his back. Before he could say anything she was kissing at his chest rapidly, not wanting to savour his touch because she was too desperate for it.

She moved downwards, kissing across the perfect v of his hip bones. His breathing was quick.

"Please." He gasped, shocking Darcy.

Well, if she had a god of mischief begging beneath her then no amount of anger at him would allow her to deny.

She pulled his remaining clothes off to the sound of fibres ripping, but Loki didn't care, taking the opportunity to take hers off too.

She went back to his hips, kissing along his skin closer to where he needed her but teasingly slow. As she got closer, she detoured going round to kiss his thighs. His fingers curled tightly into the bed sheets.

"Darcy," He begged again.

She smiled, okay he had been sufficiently punished, she thought.

She licked the length of him so teasingly slowly that he groaned in a mix of pleasure and agonised need. Deciding she'd teased him enough, she took him in her mouth and from the way he gasped in relief she thought he might come there and then. She moved against him slowly at first, tongue licking his slit before increasing her rhythm.

Her hands clutched at his hip bones and fuck, she'd never really enjoyed giving oral except for pleasing the other person, and Loki was a bastard, so it wasn't like she was particularly keen to please him. But his hands were in her hair, her hands on his hips, and he was making noises in that voice that was so silkily smooth it was almost orgasmic in itself.

She could tell he was practically on the verge of orgasm, and she wasn't having that- no he was going to have to wait for it. She went instead to swap her mouth for her hand but he caught her wrist.

"I think it only fair for me to repay the favour." He said.

"After what you've done, I think I deserve more than that." She answered, somewhat breathily.

He smiled and the sight made her stomach do flips.

"I believe that is fair." He said, taking her waist again and rolling so that he was on top.

He smiled once more at the sight of her, naked and beneath him before his fingers were between her legs and oh god, she could barely think.

He kissed at her stomach and breasts while his fingers moved in and out of her, occasionally circling her clit. She rocked her hips against him embarrassingly quickly but fuck it, he was good at this.

"So wet, Miss Lewis." He smirked, lifting his head to look down at her. "Who knew you liked me so much."

Darcy rolled her eyes. A new level of eye rolling, she thought, doing it while being fingered.

She reached up to grab his hair, thankful for its length and pulled him down closer.

"Shut. Up. Loki." She hissed. She had not intended to, but she had pushed him closer to where his fingers were and he took this as an order to change, which he hurriedly obliged to do, his tongue going to where his fingers had just been.

She gasped so loudly she was surprised guards didn't come running.

And she could practically feel his cocky smirk between her legs.

She wound her fingers in his hair, pulling tightly to tell him to stop smiling but it only worked to make him go deeper, his tongue hitting places she didn't even know were sensitive until touched by him.

"Holy shit." She said before she could stop herself, her breathing so quick she was soon panting. Dear God, he was fucking good at this. He couldn't have been doing it very long, but Darcy was practically shaking from pleasure.

"Okay…" She said. "Okay…Loki…I'm really not going to last much longer."

His tongue licked her clit once more before he moved away from her.

"If you keep panting like that, I'm afraid I won't either." He said.

"Urgh," She sighed, he was so fucking annoying this was not the time to talk. "Just fucking get in me."

The good thing about Loki was that, apparently, he did not have to be told twice.

She lay on the bed, him on top of her. He kissed her briefly before moving inside her.

She inhaled sharply as he moved, fingers scraping down his back before moving to his hair. Her fingers were entwined between the strands of his hair so tightly that had he been mortal, he would probably have been shouting in pain.

His hands rested either side of her as though to trap her in place, but she was hardly going anywhere. She was rocking against him just as enthusiastically as he was.

As he moved in and out, she saw him close his eyes from pleasure, and she had to move her hands from his hair to the back of his neck because she could feel she was on the edge, and she didn't want to rip strands out because there was no way she was going to-

She came not unexpectedly but shockingly, because she couldn't remember the last time she achieved an orgasm before the other person did. She sighed- or more yelped- against his chest, far more high pitched than any of her earlier moans.

She held onto him as her body shook with pleasure and the sight of her climaxing, the feel of her muscles spasming around him sent him over too. He came, spilling inside her before rolling off of her to avoid collapsing on top of her as he panted.

He had moaned deeply as he first came, but made no noise now other than deep panting.

Darcy was trying to regain her breath, her body still tingling from pleasure. She could feel everywhere his lips had been, everywhere his skin had touched like his lips were fire and she had been burnt.

But never had it felt so good.

His breathing slowed faster than she did, no doubt because of inhuman abilities of some sort.

Clearly being immortal allowed for practice, because damn.

His breath was still somewhat shaky when he spoke, however. "And here I believed mortal women were supposed to be fragile."

She laughed and hit him at the same time, still not quite ready to move yet.

This would be the part where she spooned for a while with gentle hugs and kisses, until they fell asleep or showered.

But it was Loki, so she doubted cuddles were involved, not that she wanted them because angry, lust filled sex did not usually warrant that.

And then, finally, it hit her.

She had just had sex with Loki.

_Shit._

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Going To Hell by The Pretty Reckless. Umm yeah...first ever smut scene so be nice...I just felt angry sex was a very lokidarcy thing to do. And yeah, the sexual tension was getting far too high in this fic. _

_Please review. _


	11. Chapter 11: Gravitate To Me

Even though the last thing Darcy wanted to be doing was moving, she found herself throwing her clothes on. How long had she been? Half an hour? More?

It wasn't like she'd hurried. If anything she'd done the opposite, drawing it out just to irritate him.

God, angry sex should not be a thing. It shouldn't be allowed. It should especially not be a thing when she was supposed to be meeting Jane.

"Miss Foster will still be there when you arrive, I am sure." Loki said, still lying lazily on the bed, and making no effort to get dressed again.

Darcy was determined not to look at him. Firstly because she felt kind of guilty about what they'd done. Secondly, because she feared one look at his cheekbones or muscular chest would have her yearning to do it again.

Well, at least she didn't have to worry about him telling anyone. She thought they might be a bit too busy being like "holy fuck you're alive?!" to be like "you did _what_ with _who_?"

"Yes," Darcy said, grimacing as she caught sight of herself in a mirror. "And I shall explain that my hair looks like this because?"

He predictably did not answer.

Darcy walked to the door.

"I feel so very used." He smirked.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. Awesome sex or not, she was still angry. "Your options were that, or being killed. I'd be happy with feeling used if I were you." She said, leaving before he could reply.

Darcy ran to her room, startling Erika who was changing the bed sheets.

"Is there any way you can make my hair not look like I just had very angry sex?" Darcy asked, not wasting any time with greetings.

Erika gaped but recovered quickly. "Umm, I shall try."

Darcy sat down and Erika grabbed products. "May I ask who?" Erika said as she tried to get a brush through Darcy's hair.

"Oh, just this guard." Darcy said.

Erika smirked. "The one you sit with in the library?"

"How did you-"

"Servants talk." Erika answered. "And this palace is full of them."

"Right well, can we agree no talking near Jane?" Darcy asked.

Erika nodded. "I would not dream of it. As for your hair…I feel you would have to bathe and-"

"Oh God, I don't have time for that." Darcy said. "Okay I'll just have to tie it up and hope for the best."

Erika nodded as Darcy pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Is there anything else?" She asked.

"No I'm go- wait, I have a question. I'm on the pill. It's a contraceptive." Darcy explained at her look of confusion. "But I run out of pills in a couple of days. Is there some Asgardian version, or do I have to ask Heimdall to send me to Earth?"

"There is a potion." Erika said. "It shall work for a year before you need more. Would you like me to obtain you some?"

"Yes please. Wait it is safe for humans, right?" Darcy checked.

"Yes, many Asgardians have used it on their mortal partners. It is completely effective and protects from ailments as well." Erika said.

"Damn, Earth needs that. Okay I have to go, but thank you, and pleeeeeaaaase don't tell anyone." Darcy pleaded.

Erika smiled. "Of course not."

Darcy grabbed a notebook and ran.

As she reached the library she saw Jane was sat with a book open, reading.

She glanced up as Darcy entered and gave her a very judgemental look.

"Oh good. I was just about to send out the search parties." Jane said.

"Sorry, I got caught up." Darcy said.

"Mmhmm. So I've heard." Jane said, smirking.

Shit. "Uh what?"

"Well, I ran into some people talking. They apparently saw you running to your room with hair that suggested you'd been dragged backwards through a bush. Not to mention, Darce, that your sweater is currently on inside out." Jane said.

Fuck. Darcy silently cursed Erika for not telling her about the sweater, but then again, Earth clothing confused her. She probably didn't notice anything was different.

"Shit." Darcy said, sitting down opposite the table and letting her head fall onto the table top.

"So who are they?" Jane asked. Darcy could practically hear her cockiness at having caught Darcy out.

Darcy sighed, face still pressing against the table. "A guard."

"Guy or girl?" Jane asked.

"Guy." Darcy replied.

"What's his name?" Jane asked.

"Does it matter?" Darcy asked, lifting her head up to frown at Jane. She placed her hands on the desk and instead rested her head on them.

"Well, I want details!" Jane practically squealed.

"I thought you didn't care for stuff like that." Darcy said.

"Well, I don't when it's people talking about other people but I care when it's you. And God only knows you needed to get some, you haven't been with anyone since Ian, right?" Jane said.

"Yeah." Darcy said. And she did have to admit. She kind of wanted to talk about it. She sighed, resigning herself to telling Jane some semblance of the truth. "I ran into him on the way to my room and we were talking, and he said that it didn't really matter about the casket-"

"Wait, you aren't supposed to tell!" Jane said, eyes wide in horror.

Darcy shook her head. "He already knew, someone must have told him." Jane didn't look pacified but Darcy continued heedlessly. "Anyway, so I started getting angry and shouting at him, and he was just smirking, which was just making me angrier, and then halfway through insulting him, he kissed me and I was like 'what the hell was that for?' and he was like 'you are beautiful angry' or something and then 'and I wanted you to stop talking' so I was like 'fuck you' and kind of shoved him against the wall and snogged him." Darcy said.

"Snogged?" Jane suppressed a laugh.

"Urgh, too long in England. That word is so gross." Darcy said.

"Only you would 'snog' someone who says stuff like that." Jane said.

Darcy shrugged. "He's really hot and the sexual tension…anyway it was really just…wow. I gave him world's biggest hickey and dear God Jane his tongue, I can't."

"So it was good?" Jane asked, laughing.

"Very much so." Darcy said, smiling at the memory.

"Oh," A voice said at the door. "My apologies, I did not realise you had company."

Darcy's mouth began to open in shock, before her expression turned to irritation. It was Loki in guard form.

"Oh, it's fine." Jane said. "We're just reading."

Loki nodded and walked over to sit next to Darcy.

Darcy kicked him under the table, and glared at him from the corner of her eyes.

"I'm Jane by the-" Jane stopped talking as she instead stared at him in a mixture of surprise and shock.

Darcy turned, worried. Had he turned back to Loki?

And then her breath caught in her throat as she turned and saw what it was that had caused Jane's reaction.

A love bite. On the side of his neck.

And Darcy was under no illusion that he was unable to cover that as he transformed, so he had left it there on purpose. And Darcy wanted to kill him.

He smiled politely at Jane. "Is there a problem?"

"Wha- no. No problem. None at all." Jane stuttered.

_Smooth_, Darcy thought with an eye roll.

"And why are you here?" Darcy turned on him, eyes narrowed slightly even though she tried not to.

He feigned confusion. "Why, to read of course."

"Where's your book?" Darcy demanded.

"Here." He said, frowning at her as he pulled out a book from a pocket. "And why are you here?"

"To read." She answered.

He looked pointedly at the empty space in front of her. She glared at him, trying to tell him to leave with her eyes.

"It appeared to be more talking to me." He smirked. "Might I ask what about?"

Fine. He wanted to make her uncomfortable? Two could play at this game.

"Jane, this is the guy I fucked about ten minutes ago." She said bluntly.

"Uh what?" Jane asked, clearly flustered.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you." Darcy said. "But he honestly wasn't that great so…"

Loki turned to her eyebrows raised in a way that clearly showed he was unimpressed with her attempts.

"That is not what you said at the time…" He said, smirking.

"Really?" Darcy queried. "Then perhaps you ought to enlighten me. What did I say?"

"Well, it was less words than begging, if I recall correctly." Loki said.

"Well, clearly you don't recall correctly because it was actually the other way round." Darcy said, tilting her head to the side.

"You are mistaken." He answered.

"I am? So you did not say '_Darcy,_'" She imitated his moans, her voice ridiculously pained and desperate sounding. "'_Darcy please_' oh and I might add that that is the first time you've ever actually said my name, so I clearly did something to you." She poked him in the chest.

His lips had tightened, but the smirk was still in place. "Perhaps, but that was certainly nothing compared to your reaction, when my tongue was in your-"

"OKAY!" Jane shrieked, jumping up.

Darcy turned to the woman in surprise. She had kind of forgotten that she was there.

"That's enough." Jane carried on. "I'm leaving. You two try not to either kill each other or…yeah I think you know what."

She grabbed her book and ran out of the door.

The moment she was gone Darcy started laughing. Loki was grinning rather widely too.

"Okay, that shouldn't have been that much fun." Darcy said, gasping for breath.

"I had no idea toying with mortals was quite that much fun." Loki said, grin still in place.

"And I had no idea you were quite that good at lying. I mean I know you're the god of lies and everything, but you almost had me believing that I enjoyed it more." Darcy said.

His eyebrow lifted. "That was entirely truthful, and I have the scratch marks on my back to prove it."

Darcy smirked at him. "Yeah okay honey, don't flatter yourself. You're good with your tongue, I'll give you that but otherwise?" She shrugged. "Meh."

"_Meh?_" He repeated.

"Yeah." She smiled. "I mean it was fun, don't worry but come on. Hardly the best sex in the world."

"Excuse me?" He asked.

Darcy had to bite her tongue to stop from laughing. "And you were so whiny as well. I mean, look, I know everyone thinks you're dead so it's clearly been a while but I don't think I've ever met anyone more desperate for me to suck their dick."

His forehead crinkled as his eyebrows wrinkled. "Desperate? Me?"

Darcy nodded. "Don't worry," She said patronisingly. "A bit more practice and you could actually be alright."

"Alright?" He repeated, voice sounding hollow.

And then she couldn't hold it in anymore, the laughter burst out of her, because really, was there anything funnier than making a guy doubt their skills in bed?

He seemed to realise he'd been completely played because he glared at her. "You are an infuriating mortal."

"That's not what you were saying half an hour ago." She practically sang, laughing. "And besides, you totally deserved that! What were you thinking coming in here when Jane was here?"

"I believe you know what I was thinking." Loki replied.

"Yeah annoying Jane whilst annoying me. Hilarious. And that mark," She waved her hands at it. "I know you could hide that but instead you're strutting around like it's a badge of honour."

His eyebrows furrowed. "I do not 'strut.'"

"Dude, you totally strut. Especially when in leather."

"Well," He smirked. "The mark was obtained rather pleasantly, I would like to remember it."

"Hmm well, maybe it won't be the last." She grinned at him flirtatiously before remembering that it was Loki and. She. Should. Not. Be. Flirting. With. Him.

"No?" He asked, looking at her half appraisingly and half with desire.

"Hmm, we'll see." She grinned, grabbing the books from Jane's pile and walking out of the room, fully aware that he was watching her leave for the second time that day.

* * *

><p>"Shouldn't they be back by now?" Jane asked anxiously. "I feel like they should be back by now."<p>

"You can handle two years but not one night?" Darcy asked.

Jane glared at her.

"Well you didn't really _handle_ the two years, _per se_…"

"Darcy," Jane whined.

For the first time in Darcy's life, she relented. Maybe it was because she knew who had stolen the casket, so she felt kind of involved in the reason Thor was gone, but she was definitely feeling that his absence was a sore topic for Jane.

"Look, if you're that worried, why don't we go down to Heimdall? Maybe he could give us an update on how he is doing?" Darcy suggested.

"Hmm, maybe." Jane said. Darcy could tell that Jane really wanted to, but didn't want to seem desperate going to Heimdall after only a day.

"We can make it look casual." Darcy added.

"Okay, let's go." Jane said.

They probably could have got horses from the stables, but seeing as Darcy's only experience riding was what Sif, Fandral and Volstagg had tried to teach her (none of them were particularly good teachers), they decided just to walk.

After all, the only other thing they could be doing was reading, and Darcy knew who'd taken the casket, so she didn't need to search for some ulterior motive for wanting it.

It took them about an hour to reach the observation room.

"Miss Lewis," He nodded in greeting, eyes glittering the smile that his lips did not show. "Miss Foster." He nodded to Jane. "I have been expecting you."

"That doesn't really work unless you're spinning round on a swivel chair with an evil looking cat on your lap." Darcy said.

"Darcy…" Jane said in that somewhat irritated voice again.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. There's no such thing as an evil looking cat." Darcy added.

Jane breathed the kind of irritated inhalation that Darcy received in response to a surprising amount of her comments. These people really needed to start appreciating how hilarious she was.

Then again, Jane's kind of joke was more science related and as she was _constantly_ telling Darcy, all the good ones argon.

"Have you heard or seen anything?" Jane asked, pulling Darcy out of thinking about that Higgs-Boson particle joke that Darcy still didn't understand.

"Rest assured, they are quite safe." Heimdall said.

Darcy saw the subtle release of tension on Jane's face.

"Currently they reside with an ally on Jotunheim. They are seeking the one who found the casket. If nothing keeps them they ought to return in a few days." Heimdall said.

Jane nodded.

"What about Earth?" Darcy asked.

Heimdall looked at her in confusion. "What is it about Midgard you wish to know?"

"Well, you know, has the cold got worse? Has anything else happened?" Darcy asked.

"As the weather has spread through the realms, it has remained constant. If the casket cannot be found, I expect it will get worse." Heimdall told her. "Other than that, the usual political disputes, wars and famine that plagues Midgard, exacerbated by the weather." He said like he was simply commenting on, well, the weather.

"And there was a rare eclipse less than ten minutes ago."

"Dammit!" Jane said, hitting her forehead. "I can't believe I forgot about that! It only happens once every five hundred and thirty seven years!"

"Well, there's always the next one." Darcy said, confused as to how Jane seemed more perturbed by missing an eclipse than by what was happening on Earth.

They thanked Heimdall and left.

"They seem to have the casket situation under control." Jane said

"Umm, yeah?" Darcy agreed, unsure as to why Jane was saying stuff like that rather than worrying.

"So I guess it wouldn't be harmful if I studied whether the eclipse had any effect on Asgard?" Jane said. Ahh, that would be why she was asking.

"Nope, I don't think it would." Darcy said.

"Great." Jane said, scampering off to science the moment they arrived back.

Darcy figured she'd go get some more books from Loki's room. She'd finished her one yesterday morning but had been too annoyed to go get another one and then too…avoiding him.

But she'd be fine with seeing him now, she just needed a few hours of distance after that.

She went to his room and knocked, but there was no answer. That was odd, she thought, because she'd passed the library on her way here, and he hadn't been there. Darcy thought those were the only two places he visited.

Unless he was on guard duty trying to get information about the retrieval of the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Yeah, that was probably it.

Darcy pushed the door open, and walked to his wall of books. He wouldn't mind her taking a few books and even if he did what was he going to do about it?

Unlike most books on Earth, these rarely had titles printed on their spines so Darcy had to pull them out and examine them.

One at the edge looked familiar, but not one that she had read. She pulled it out curiously.

_Prophecies of The Great._

Ordinarily, she would have rolled her eyes and replaced it, but Loki had been reading it and it did sound somewhat intriguing.

Yeah, why not, she decided.

It would probably be hilarious if nothing else.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Gravity by Hit The Lights. Well the last chapter had the best response of this fic, thank you all you dirty people. Nanowrimo and a fabulous Beta means another update yaaaaay. <em>

_Please review. _


	12. Chapter 12: A List of Lies

Darcy didn't know what to make from the book. As a book, it was a little boring, she supposed, but she was having far too much fun.

Each page listed a different 'prophecy', which was basically a poem so bad that English teachers everywhere would cry at the forced rhyming that outlined each different story. They were also all rather vague and Darcy had fun imagining the different situations each one could have.

For example the first one: _Five allies shall venture to the unknown, one shall perish on journey, another turn to stone, and then they shall return home.  
><em>

Darcy was literally laughing for five minutes at that one.

Seriously, she didn't know what was funniest. The fact that those four lines apparently deserved a page to themselves? That this was considered a prophecy of the great? The fact that venturing into the unknown just made her think "Space, the final frontier…"? Or the fact that the entire prophecy starts so ominously and oh no two people die and yeah, let's just go home? Talk about an anti-climax.

And then there were the prophecies that sounded a little too familiar for her liking.

Like this one: "The favoured son shall be banish'd, for the future of his land he must prevail, without him there lies only destruction ahead, else it is the bastard brother the land shall hail, both brothers must be presumed dead, though it is known the cursed one shall fail."

Once again, Darcy wanted to lecture the author of this book. Everyone knew there was more to a poem than a rhyme scheme. This guy didn't even have regular line lengths.

But still…crappy poetry aside didn't that tale (she really couldn't call it a prophecy. At all.) sound a bit like what happened to Thor? The favoured son banished, that would be him. And without him Loki would be in charge and Fandral had admitted he would have been a good king but it never would have happened. The land never would have accepted someone like him. Thor exhibited all the Asgardian virtues but Loki was too logical. There would have been too many riots and, well like the poem said "destruction ahead." And that "hail" could have a variety of meanings.

Both brothers presumed dead sounded like a filler line to fit the rhyme, but it had happened, Thor had sacrificed himself but instead regained his powers and Loki had taken a nice little jump off of rainbow road in true Mario Kart style.

No, there was one part that bothered her. "The cursed one." Because of what she knew of Loki's life it had sucked. Finding out you were adopted had to suck. Not enough to justify what he did but still. And what had happened to make him go from desperate-to-please prince to psychotic would-be dictator couldn't have been pleasant.

But cursed?

Darcy shook her head. She was being silly, reading stuff into what was essentially a bad poetry book. She would be sending Asgard some Cummings asap.

Or at least, that's what she thought. Until she reached the last one. Printed in large, embossed letters that stuck out from the page:

Ragnarök (A summary, for this prophecy only, due to high interest, the full printed prophecy shall follow)

When brother shall battle brother,  
>When kinship shall dissolve,<br>When turmoil shall reign,  
>A son of foes will fall,<br>And shall set in motion these events:  
>A winter of three,<br>The sun consumed and the moon vanquished,  
>Odin's bane set free,<br>The living ally the dead,  
>The universe shall burn.<br>And sink below the sea.  
>Creation reversed.<br>The final destiny of the Gods,  
>is death.<p>

Of course the structure still sucked, but the lack of stupid rhymes made it seem more real somehow. That, and the fact that this was Ragnarök. This prophecy sounded like utter bullshit but…Ragnarök was the Norse apocalypse. She'd read books about it.

And of course she knew that it was prophesied and everything- but that was just a myth!

And she realised how stupid it was ever to have believed that, because she was currently living on another planet with the very gods the myths depicted.

But then…the Norse gods were so two dimensional. All Thor did was whack things with his hammer but he wasn't like that, he was kind and caring and noble and a bunch of other things the myths never mentioned.

And Loki wasn't the mischievous imp they always pictured him to be. He was a guy with a tragic past and a messed up system of morality who loved his mother, and likes to read, and is really good at oral and….yeah, they never mentioned that in the myths.

They weren't the kind of people who would get involved with crap like that. They would try to make a deal with the giants or something-

The giants…three year winter…

_No_, she told herself firmly. No she was over thinking things.

It wasn't like the giants hadn't had the casket before. Hadn't they caused the ice ages with them (she prayed that wouldn't happen again)? Well that was no reason to think that Ragnarök was happening.

And besides, some son of foes was supposed to set everything in motion and if the casket was the three year winter then it was Loki who had started that.

Speaking of, she hadn't seen him in a few days.

Darcy turned to look for the full prophecy, and saw that it was pages and pages long, the print so small that she could barely read it. Part of it caught her eye, clearly from the first part of the summary:

Brothers will fight  
>and kill each other,<br>sisters' children  
>will defile kinship.<br>It is harsh in the world,  
>whoredom rife<br>—an axe age, a sword age  
>—shields are riven—<br>a wind age, a wolf age—  
>before the world goes headlong.<br>No man will have  
>mercy on another.<p>

She recognised that! It was from the Poetic Edda! Something like völva. She hadn't read the Poetic Edda or Prose Edda cover to cover but she had looked up a bit, Ragnarök included because hey, it was kind of important if the gods were real.

So this prophecy was…a universal thing? Something the people of Earth and the people of Asgard believed in?

Anyway, once Darcy finished the book she hadn't really thought about it. It sounded like a collection of conspiracy theories really.

She'd moved onto another one which focused on war but in more of a game of thrones way than the historical way the books of the Asgardian library did.

DARCY!" Jane yelled, running into the library, a huge smile on her face. "DARCY THOR'S BACK!"

Jane grabbed her arm and started trying to pull her out of the door.

"Woah woah woah! I'm coming okay, stop pulling me!"

Darcy started sprinting with Jane to the throne room.

As they burst through the doors they saw the others assembled in the middle of the room.

"Jane!" Thor's face lit up despite his obvious exhaustion.

He stepped forwards as Jane ran into his arms. He quickly enveloped her, his hand running through her hair.

Jane pulled away, her arms moving round his neck as she kissed him.

"Oh my god, get a room." Darcy said.

Sif looked at them in annoyance, Volstagg in amusement, and Fandral with pride.

"Okay I get that you haven't seen each other for a few days but is now really a great time?" Darcy tried again but their lips were still crashing into one another, coming apart only to breathe.

Darcy rolled her eyes, giving up her attempt for a few moments to survey the others. They looked exhausted. Their clothes were dirty and their hair a mess.

They all looked like they could do with a warm shower and hot food.

Then again, she supposed, at least they weren't bloody and injured. That was always promising.

A kind of sucking sound told them all that Thor and Jane had finally stopped snogging…kissing…making out- dammit, England.

"I missed you." Jane smiled, looking up at him. Her face was flushed and she looked slightly embarrassed at such a public display of affection.

"I had gathered as much." Thor grinned down at her. "And I missed you too. I assure you I would much rather have been here with you."

Jane paled slightly. "Did something happen-"

"I believe we may need to discuss this somewhere more private." Odin said as he walked into the room.

Thor stood up a little straighter in his father's presence.

Odin nodded to him. "I see you are at least home safely, more than I could have hoped for given the current standing with Jotunheim."

_Then great parenting sending your son there_, Darcy thought.

Thor nodded.

"Come," Odin said, walking past them to the war room. "Tell me all that has transpired."

They followed him in, all of them standing round the table.

Odin gestured for Thor to start.

"We landed in Jotunheim in Vidom's realm." Thor said. "It took a few hours for us to reach his castle where he assented to see us. We explained the situation to him."

"You explained the situation to him?" Odin asked, frowning at Thor. "Did he not already know?"

"I expect so. It seemed courteous to explain in full our reason for being there." Thor answered. "We told him we knew of the Casket's disappearance and knowledge that it was wielded by a Jotunn due to the havoc being wreaked across the nine realms, only a Frost Giant could utilise the casket. We asked if he knew anything of it."

"And?" Odin asked.

"He was aware that the Casket had been returned to Jotunheim and informed us that he had no issue with that being so." Thor said gravely.

"But did you not tell him of the use to which it was put?" Odin asked.

"Yes." Thor said. "I reminded him of this. He said that whilst he was adamant in the belief the casket belonged on Jotunheim, he was not happy about a leader of a rival tribe having it. When he found out about the casket being on Jotunheim he had sent many of his men out searching for it."

"Did they find anything?" Odin asked.

"They found the Frost Giant said to have found the casket." Thor said.

"Did you speak with him?" Odin asked.

Thor shook his head gravely. "He was a lone Frost Giant, no particularly great warrior. The moment it was known he held the casket…"

Thor trailed off not needing to say what followed.

"Yes, so he invited us to spend the night before continuing our search elsewhere. He was quite the hospitable host." Thor said. "In the morning he told us he had refrained from sharing information with us but had since ascertained that we were trustworthy." Thor glared at his companions. "And becoming intoxicated apparently convinced him we were not there with malicious intentions."

"You were hardly sober yourself." Fandral murmured back but clearly realised that with Odin present it wasn't exactly appropriate.

"What is it that he said?" Odin asked.

"He told us that the giant who discovered the casket was indeed dead but that he had not died as quickly as he had led us to believe. One of his men was able to talk to him first, but he had not returned since." Thor explained. "He did not know where the man was but told us of someone who may. We hearkened there immediately and after being directed in many places, a few fights and some interrogations we managed at last to find him."

"Frost Giants are loyal to their tribe's leader. Why did he not return?" Odin asked.

"I shall explain." Thor said. "He was hiding in an ice cave when we found him. He tried to fight us off but obviously soon realised he could not. It took us a while to get any information from him but we provided him with food and assured him no harm would come to him. He told us that he had not returned, because he feared his leader would not believe what it was he said and that he would be executed for lying to him." Thor said.

Odin frowned in a way that said he was wary of Thor's answer. "And what was it he said that could cause a reactions such as that? Surely it is evident that he would not be lying?"

"His answer could not be true." Thor said.

"Answer of who stole the Casket from the original Frost Giant?" Odin asked.

Thor's eyebrows furrowed. "The answer of who provided it."

_SHIT_, Darcy thought. _No, no there was no way Loki would be so stupid as to not go in disguise.  
><em>

"Who was it?" Odin asked.

Darcy hands curled anxiously until her nails bit into her skin.

"Loki." Thor answered simply.

Fuck. She was afraid of that.

Then again, that fucker deserved it if he couldn't even be bothered to go in disguise. It was like he was asking to be caught.

Odin's expression hardened at the name.

"That's not possible." Jane said. Both her and Darcy had been quiet listening to Thor. They could ask their questions later. "He died. We _saw_ him die."

"Yes." Thor nodded. "This was exactly why he did not think he would be believed.

"Well, maybe he meant something else." Darcy suggested. "Like maybe he meant Loki as a general name for a trickster or maybe he thought it was Loki because he was giving him the casket? And he'd been injured, right? So he might not have been thinking straight."

Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She knew of course that she should not be covering for Loki because stealing the casket was wrong but equally it didn't deserve being discovered alive and thrown in prison or worse.

"Thor, did you discover who has the casket now?" Odin asked like neither Jane nor Darcy had spoken.

Thor frowned. "No, we came immediately here. I thought you may wish to know this-"

"I do, it is simply that I must send an immediate group to Jotunheim to find it. It is imperative that we do not get distracted by this." Odin said.

Thor nodded. "However I do feel what Darcy said has some merit as an explanation."

"You do?" Darcy asked, confused.

He smiled at her. "Yes, I do."

"Yeah, see, he does." Darcy said, very nearly poking her tongue out at Odin.

"I can see no other explanation." Fandral said. "Loki is dead-"

"Excuse me, I must send the people to Jotunheim." Odin said leaving.

"What was all that about?" Jane asked, nodding at the door Odin had just left through.

"He does not like to be spoken to about Loki. It matters not what the Frost Giant meant, it brings us no closer to the casket. It was foolish for us to have returned, I just idiotically hoped…" Thor trailed off. Jane squeezed his hand and Darcy ignored the guilt she felt swelling in her. Thor was clinging to any hope that Loki may be alive and meanwhile she knew that to be the truth.

"You are not the only one who wishes Loki was alive." Fandral nodded to Thor as though in consolation.

Thor managed a weak nod in return.

"Yes he is." Sif said firmly. "You may miss Loki, but if he were alive, it would be nothing but trouble for us."

Thor opened his mouth to reply, but to Darcy's surprise it was Fandral who spoke. "Stop, Sif." He sounded sombre rather than his usual jokey self. Darcy wondered if Thor wasn't the only one who got their hopes up. "You may only ever have tolerated him," He turned to nod at Volstagg. "You and Hogun only ever accepted him, but he was my friend and Thor's brother. Were he here now, I admit it would not sadden me like it would you."

"Yes, until he sticks a knife in your back-" Sif started in reply.

"Both of you stop." Jane said. They looked at her in surprise as though they couldn't believe a mortal had set that to them. Kind of ridiculous given how long they'd been there but she supposed old habits die hard. "That's hardly important."

"Jane is right." Thor said. "What is important is what the giant meant."

"You just said it did not ma-" Fandral started but silenced at the glare Thor gave him.

Clearly Thor just wanted to change the topic but she supposed Fandral would be too oblivious to think of that.

"He could have meant a trickster." Jane listed. "Or an Asgardian criminal maybe?"

_Someone crazily good in bed?_ Darcy added silently.

"Someone presumed dead?" Sif suggested.

"Maybe he simply meant someone of Asgard?" Thor said.

"Or he could mean someone of both worlds?" Fandral suggested. The others nodded.

"Wait what?" Darcy asked, not sure what that one meant.

"Loki was adopted." Thor explained.

"Yeah but how is he of both worlds?" Darcy asked.

"Loki is a Jotunn. A son of one of their leaders, Laufey, left to die but found by my father." Thor said. "He is of Jotunn descent, but of Asgaridan upbringing."

The room suddenly felt very hot.

"So they could have meant someone born on either Asgard or Jotunheim, but raised in the other?" Darcy faintly heard.

Because her mind was racing. Loki was a Frost Giant? And she didn't even have time to think about how that made his actions make a little bit more sense because lines were ringing in her head.

_When brother shall battle brother, when kinship shall dissolve_, Thor and Loki…didn't that make sense?

_When turmoil shall reign_, with New York, Hydra, the dark elves etc. there had been more battles in recent years than ever before.

_A son of foes, _Loki_…_it had to be Loki. Son of both Jotunheim and Asgard, eternal foes. _Shall fall,_ well which one to choose from. Literal from the bifrost? Symbolically from grace? Or his death?

_And shall set in motion these events, winter that lasts years, _Loki had stolen the casket…if this was it then he had literally set that in motion.

_The sun consumed and the moon vanquished, _and maybe she was reading into it a bit much but that eclipse?

_Oh my god_, she realised, she hadn't seen Loki since the eclipse- what if he was causing the next part?

And as more parts fell into place, Darcy had to physically stop from gasping.

Because Loki had read this book. He knew what he was doing.

Loki was causing the end of the world.

Loki was causing Ragnarök.

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Stitches by Young Guns. *Peter Quill voice* WHY WOULD YOU DESTROY THE UNIVERSE WHEN YOU'RE ONE OF THE IDIOTS THAT LIVES IN IT? Ahem, anyway, apologies for the poetry. As someone who writes poetry it pained me to write stuff that bad but I have a thing against prophecies so no way were they getting decent poetry, alas, Ragnarok has literally been prophecised no way around that one. <em>

_Please Review_


	13. Chapter 13: Two More Miracles

Darcy managed to finally excuse herself from the conversation by claiming she felt ill. Given that she'd rapidly paled, and seemed rather dizzy, no one raised too many questions, just Thor asking if she needed a healer.

She'd replied that she just needed to lie down which she did, but she also needed to…what? Kill Loki? It wasn't anger she felt so much as confusion. He could do a lot of stuff that she wouldn't condone, but would at least make sense. Loki liked chaos, which was motivation enough. But why would he want to destroy the universe? He wouldn't be there to enjoy the results. Unless that was the point…he did kind of hate himself like a real fucking lot. But would he really be willing to go up in flames just to see the universe burn too?

No, what she wanted was answers.

She stumbled to his room in a kind of daze, after all it wasn't like this was an easy thing to take in.

Her lips were dry and she didn't even know what she'd say to him when she saw him.

She knocked because hey, why not be polite when accusing someone of trying to destroy the universe.

There was no answer and Darcy remembered that she hadn't seen him in a couple of days.

_Oh my God_, she thought suddenly, _what if he's causing the next bit of that prophecy?_

What was it? Odin's bane freed? Her stomach twisted at the thought. Anything that was Odin's bane she didn't want to meet. He'd better not be freeing it.

She slipped into his room anyway, thinking that maybe there might be something in there that would give her a clue to the exact things he was doing and then maybe she would be able to stop him.

His room had a deserted feel to it, like he hadn't been there in a while. It confirmed Darcy's suspicion that she hadn't just not seen him, but that he wasn't here to be seen.

She walked first to the pages littering the floor and walls.

She hadn't really paid much attention to them before. She'd asked him and he said that before the common tongue was discovered- the language they spoke apparently translated into the first language of any listener in their minds (with attractive English accent included, apparently)- languages were dependent on what was being said. So there was a language for conversation, and a language for war and stuff which Darcy said was stupid but Loki argued it kept things secret from those who were not intended to hear, as they hadn't learnt the language. Darcy replied that it was stupid. That time Loki simply shrugged.

Anyway, that was long before even Odin was born, but magic wouldn't work without the language of magic and Loki had to think in this language until it became instinctive, the words like training wheels until you didn't need them.

Loki had kept the pages because Frigga wrote them.

Or at least that's what he'd said. Maybe they were in depth details of his plan for universe wide destruction all written in a complex code.

Darcy bent down to pick up a sheet before remembering how Loki had said there were more under the bed. Surely he would keep the plans out of sight.

She had to lie down to reach the box at which point she heard someone stumble into the room.

Instinctively she rolled under the bed, not wanting someone to ask why she was in Loki's room. And if it was Loki she didn't want him to know she'd been snooping around.

Whoever it was they were breathing heavily.

"Either a wound is infected and I am hallucinating," Loki said, voice strained as though irritated. "Or you have seen fit to visit. Again."

Darcy's breath caught in her throat, her stomach tightening. Was he talking to her? How had he known?

Before she could ponder replying, however, another voice spoke. "Well I'd say it's probably a bit of both right now." The voice said. It was feminine and enunciated each word carefully like they were some upper class aristocrat, a feeling reinforced by the snide tone. However, underneath it was a noise like teeth grinding. "One of those is no simple cut. I imagine it is causing you a lot of pain." She didn't sound like she particularly cared.

"What gave it away?" Loki said tersely, standing to the side of the bed. He sounded like he was in pain and Darcy found herself wanting to kill this bitch, who obviously didn't give a damn. "I imagine it will not kill me."

"Of course not." The woman snapped. "Now did you get it done, or did you simply offer your services as a scratching post?"

"It is done." Loki answered through clearly gritted teeth. Wait? What was done? Releasing Odin's bane? Was this woman an accomplice?

"Hmmm, I had hoped you would do a better job." The woman sounded disappointed.

"The beast is free. That is all that concerns you." Loki answered. He sounded like just speaking was an effort at this point.

"Well I wouldn't say it is all that concerns me. For instance I now have to wait for you to heal before you complete the next step. You are of no use to me like that." She said like it was obvious. The scratching sound was more pronounced as she spoke.

"I apologise for the inconvenience my injuries have caused you." Loki said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I shall visit you, Frost Giant," She snarled. "When your wounds are cured."

There was a sound like the teeth-grinding amplified, and then silence.

Loki shuffled, groaning as he did so, to the bed before collapsing on top of it.

Darcy assumed that meant the woman was gone because there was no way he'd show such weakness otherwise.

She rolled out hurriedly. Screw keeping hidden- Loki was hurt and Darcy wanted to kill that creepy bitch.

"Oh my god!" She said on seeing him. She'd obviously known he was injured but nothing could have prepared her for the sight.

His leather was torn to shreds, practically all of the skin she could see was painted red, and his right shoulder was a mangled mess of blood and flesh and leather.

Darcy almost gagged.

"Miss Lewis?" He frowned at her in confusion, looking from the door to her, clearly convinced that he'd missed her coming in.

"Oh crap. I have to get you to a healer." Darcy said, stumbling forwards but scared of hurting him more.

"Don't be ridiculous," His voice was somewhat slurred. "They'd kill me on sight."

"Can't you disguise yourself?" Darcy asked, unable to look away from the wounds.

"My magic is being instinctively routed to healing." He answered. "I cannot physically override it."

"Shit okay, okay." She paced, something she did when flustered. "Do you have a first aid kit?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, somehow capable of giving her a judging look despite his current state of pain. "We have healers in the palace, Miss Lewis. Why would we keep healing supplies in our rooms?"

"Oh I don't know, in case you fake your own death then get mortally injured." She snapped. "Okay, I've got one in my room I'll be right back."

She couldn't think of anything else to do so she sprinted to her room, grabbed the kit and returned in under two minutes.

When she returned, Loki looked half unconscious.

She swore again, throwing the kit down and running to his bathroom to fill a bowl with water. It took way too long to fill.

And she definitely wasn't qualified for this. Not by a long shot.

First aid, yes, she'd taken that course. However short of putting Loki in the recovery position she didn't really know what else to do.

She ran back to his room. "Loki." She snapped loudly.

He blinked a few times, turning to look at her and taking a while to focus on her.

"How much does it take to inflict pain on you compared to mortals?" She demanded.

He scowled like he didn't understand why she was asking.

"Answer me Loki." She demanded.

"Around five times as much." He answered.

"Right, okay." Darcy said, pulling out the packet of painkillers. They were prescription only, high strength ones she probably shouldn't have kept but that she'd paid for when she sprained her ankle in the Dark Elf invasion.

For wounds like his she would double the dosage, and then for him she multiplied it by five. Fuck that was a lot of pills.

She placed them in her hand and walked up to him, kneeling next to him on the bed.

"Loki?" She said softly. Oh crap, bedside manner much? "Loki, I need you to swallow these, okay?"

He frowned at her. "Mortal medication?" He asked.

"I don't know if it will work but I'm assuming it won't kill you, and it's worth seeing if they help because this is going to sting like a bitch." She answered.

He glared at her, adamant about the medication.

"Please," She tried.

He clumsily held his hand out, and she had to help him lead the pills to his mouth, and made sure he swallowed them all.

"Okay…" She said, looking at the wounds coating his body. This would not be fun.

There was no way she could get his clothes off without hurting him and they were shredded anyway so she picked up the scissors for cutting bandages and cut the clothes away. Clearly the fact they were shredded had weakened the integrity somewhat, because she shouldn't have been able to cut through his armour. Luckily it was only his top half so she left his trousers on, not wanting to get distracted by his naked body.

His wounds weren't as bad as the shredded leather had made them look. Most were just bleeding scratches. All apart from that one on his shoulder, which even with the leather gone looked seriously painful.

She glanced at Loki who seemed to be on the verge of going unconscious. Oh well, she may as well start with the worst.

She picked up the bowl of water and, with trepidation, drizzled it over the wound, trying to wash the blood away.

He jerked in response, and inhaled sharply, suddenly very, very conscious. She paused and he nodded at her to continue with clenched jaw. His whole body tensed, shaking very slightly as she washed the wound.

"I'm sorry, honey." She said. Yeah, he'd probably kill her for saying that, but she couldn't help it when he was this hurt. She'd better never run into Odin's bane, or she'd murder it for this. She picked up the wound disinfectant and, after contemplating it for a second, a roll of bandages.

"You're going to need something to bite on." She said, placing it in his mouth.

She almost wanted to close her eyes, wincing from the guilt she felt at the amount of pain she was about to cause him.

Before she could chicken out she poured it quickly, all in one go, over the wound.

Loki simultaneously bit very hard on the bandage, and let out a low shout of pain. Good thing these walls were pretty thick.

He was definitely conscious now if he wasn't before.

She removed the bandage from his mouth, and put both them and the bottle down before frowning at him.

"I don't know what to do." She admitted. The wound looked loads better after being washed, but it was still pretty bad. "If you were mortal, you'd probably need a fuck load of stitches but I am definitely not capable of that."

He swallowed. "The wound will heal, stitches are not necessary. If you could…bandage it?" He said, clearly uncomfortable with being both vulnerable and needing help.

Darcy nodded it and got some fresh bandages out.

"I need you to sit up, okay?" She said.

He nodded and shifted so that he was sat up, wincing with pain.

She gently started wrapping bandages over his shoulder and around his torso, padding it with the cotton wool type stuff that would soak up and help clot the blood. Once she'd wrapped it she fastened it.

Now she could turn her attention back to the other cuts. They weren't too bad but she should probably disinfect them.

She started on his back. This time Darcy grabbed a towel to do it properly, dipping the water in the bowl and wiping away the blood before drizzling the TCP over it.

She also put plasters on the wounds because he'd be lying on them.

"Lie back down." She said when she was finished.

To her surprise, he did as she said.

It was slow work as she was being incredibly careful, not wanting to hurt him. She also bandaged and plastered the wounds that needed them.

She tried not to think of how muscled Loki's body was because he was far too injured for those kinds of thoughts.

She was so focused on her task that it took until she was cleaning one of the last wounds she noticed Loki had been looking at her for a while. She glanced up from the cut she was rubbing with the wet towel.

He was staring at her with an odd look on his face. She couldn't explain it but it made her insides turn to jelly.

"Stop looking at me like that." She said, swapping to the TCP.

"Like what?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"Like that." She gestured to his face. "It's making me think…things."

She disinfected the wound and turned back to the towel to clean one last cut.

"What things?" He asked, a smirk to his voice. "Or perhaps you would care to demonstrate instead?"

Darcy was really not in the mood for him flirting. Well her body was, but mentally definitely not because she was too damn worried for him.

She cleaned the cut, looking at it rather than him. "Mmm hmm." She said sarcastically. "How about you sit up without wincing, and I'll suck your dick for half an hour."

Loki glared at her, clearly irritated that he could not physically manage that. "It is your own fault." Loki said instead.

She drizzled on a bit too much disinfectant, almost hoping it would sting.

"And why would that be?" She asked, placing the equipment to the side and looking at him. He looked a lot better. Clean and neatly bandaged. Much better than the bloody mess that he had been.

"You touch me so gently and expect me to not be somewhat aroused?" Loki asked.

"I was cleaning your wounds, Loki. Not quite the kind of gentle touch you'd think would get you up." She really did not need to think about Loki's nurse fetishes, not when she was already considering playing doctor properly with him. "Did the pills help at all?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered, pausing for a moment. "Thank you."

Those two words sent butterflies straight to her stomach because it wasn't something she'd ever expected to hear from him.

"It's okay." She said, finger almost absentmindedly stroking the side of his stomach, as she looked back at the sheer amount of cuts. She shook her head unable to understand why he would risk this. "Jesus, Loki," She muttered without thinking. "Was releasing Odin's bane really worth all this?"

His hand shot out to clasp her arm and he sat up more (wincing, of course), staring at her intently. "What?"

"Ow, Loki my arm." She said and he suddenly realised how tightly he was gripping her. He dropped his arm but still looked at her in a vague state of panic. Oh well, she had to do this sometime right? "You were releasing Odin's bane, right? Or are you at a different stage?"

"I…how did you know?" He asked, scowling at her.

Darcy shrugged. "I read that prophecy book while you were gone and given everything that's going on it clicked."

He shook his head slightly. "You know what it is I am doing, and yet you cleaned and bandaged my wounds rather than hoping they would kill me?" He asked incredulously.

Darcy swallowed. "Well I mean, I'm not down with the whole trying to cause the end of the universe thing. I just figured there must be something I didn't know going on because what you're doing makes no sense. You live in the universe. Why would you want to end it?"

He glanced away. "It is complicated."

"Complicated?" She repeated, raising an eyebrow sceptically. "Loki, just tell me what is going on."

"I cannot tell you." He answered.

"'Cannot'?" She repeated, anger slipping into her voice. "What do you mean you can't? You're afraid I'll try to stop you destroying the universe, because I'll do that anyway, whether or not you tell me your motivations. And who was that woman anyway?"

"You saw that?" He asked, annoyed.

"Yeah, I was in here looking for some answer as to why you would want to destroy everything and then someone came in so I hid and yeah…I heard the whole thing." She answered.

He swallowed.

This was a first: the God of Lies out of lies.

"Is she your partner in all of this?" Darcy asked.

"I can't tell you, if I could I would." He replied sincerely.

"Wait…" She said, something clicking into place in her mind. "You _can't _tell me?" Darcy's stomach twisted with anxiety. "Loki…" She said quietly, unsure of how to ask but she lifted her blue eyes to meet his green ones. "Is someone making you do this?"

He looked away, neither confirming nor denying it, which was confirmation enough.

"Who? That woman?" She asked, anger burning in her. Loki was like _the_ morally ambiguous, self-motivated God. Forcing him to do something just seemed so wrong.

Again, he did not reply. After a moment he spoke. "Here." He said, lifting a hand towards her face.

"Dude no!" Darcy said, clutching his wrist. "No magic mind stuff. You need to use all your magic on getting the fuck better."

He shook his head. "Whatever poison was inflicted from the beast's bite blocked a portion of my magic. It is still in my veins, but what you poured onto the wound has helped a fair amount. It would not be much magic anyway." He looked at her, a desperate gleam in his eye like he needed her to know the truth.

It was all so very odd of Loki but she supposed she needed to know what was happening to explain his behaviour.

After a moment she nodded.

He touched his fingers to her temples. "I cannot tell you." He said. "But I can show you."

* * *

><p>Chapter title from Oh Glory by Panic! At The Disco. Thanks for all the reviews.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14: Choices Seal Our Fate

Darcy felt her eyes forced shut, and when she could open them again, she saw that she wasn't in Loki's room anymore.

No, it was dark and cold. She could see the rough outline of the walls in the dim lighting, and they appeared to be made of rock like a cave.

And she knew somehow that she was seeing this all from Loki's view point. It was his memory and she could feel his trepidation.

He wasn't scared exactly, more uncertain. It was like he'd felt when he reached the land beyond the void after falling through that abyss.

And he felt confused. Because as he'd laid dying he realised how worthless the last three years of his life had been. And he'd been hit by a desperate need to apologise because he'd been a fool thinking that whatever hurt he had felt justified what he'd done and even more idiotic to push away the people that cared for him out of 'certain' knowledge that they hated him as much as he hated himself.

He didn't even feel embarrassed about the way he'd clutched onto Thor as he died.

Despite everything, he didn't want his last words to him to be filled with hatred. Because all along, the thing that angered him most was that he couldn't hate Thor, despite his many attempts to. He'd craved Thor's trust and attention the whole trip in Svartalfheim, like some ignored child and in the end he'd needed to know that Thor forgave him.

Because he felt the regret of what he had done like a knife point in his gut.

Then again that could have been the weapon that had impaled him.

And Loki must have been denying strong feelings of familial love for his brother for a long time, because he couldn't bear the thought of Thor dying, to the point where he didn't even regret sacrificing himself for him.

Loki simultaneously hated this weakness of love, and felt stronger because of it.

He looked round at his surroundings, taking a step forward in the cave-like place.

And in front of him the darkness swirled and solidified.

The person standing in front of him was striking. A tall woman with regal, beautiful features on one side of her face: high cheekbones, long flowing black hair, and a perfectly arched eyebrow. And the other side of her face was a skull, rotten flesh still clinging in parts, and a hollow socket where an eyeball should have been.

In fact she seemed to be the same all the way down, a skeletal neck and hand while the other side was skin. She wore a black dress, long sleeved and high necked, sweeping the floor with edges like smoke as though the material was not quite solid.

And Loki recognised her at once. He doubted there were many half-Aesir half-skeleton goddesses.

"Of course," He said, looking round with a smile of mirth. "Helheim."

He knew that regret when dying would not bring him to Valhalla, yet he found a small part of him was saddened by the news like he had been hoping for better. Even his years before his…madness were ambiguous enough that he would be left wondering which realm he would be taken to.

"Oh, don't take it personally, trickster." The woman said, waving away his concerns with her fleshed hand. Her voice was at once eloquent and gravelly. "Valhalla's a myth. There is no Freya or Odin- who take souls that is. Though both do exist. Everyone ends up here."

Loki raised an eyebrow at the information.

"Although," Hel continued. "I suppose if it were, it _would_ raise an interesting question of where you would be. Before the revelation of Odin's betrayal, you weren't exactly evil, and afterwards, well I think that's pretty self-explanatory. Then you died in battle to save your brother and avenge your mother. Ahh, a question for the philosophers I suppose."

"I suppose." Loki agreed, certain that he did not like the Goddess of the Underworld very much, if she felt that was something she had a right to comment on.

"Anyway, you are not supposed to be here." She said.

"Excuse me?" Loki asked, eyebrow lifting. She had _just_ told him everyone came here.

"No, Asgardian." She said. "I have spent far too long avoiding you for this to happen."

"Avoiding me?" Loki asked. He hated being confused and would normally demand answers but he felt it would be more prudent to be polite to the Queen of Helheim given that he would be spending the rest of eternity there.

"Oh yes," She sighed. "You should have died long before this. Cast out as a child in the middle of Jotunheim it really was…_unlikely _that you would live until Odin found you. Wounds you have received in battle that were miracles to heal. Oh, and not to mention surviving drifting through an abyss that should have torn you to pieces. Still… I could hardly pretend not to notice a spear through your chest. Especially not when you had company. That might have been a little bit obvious, don't you think?"

"Somewhat, perhaps." Loki answered, intrigued. "And why does my life mean so much to you?"

"Because it has purpose." She replied.

Loki smirked self-deprecatingly. "Then I feel I may have disappointed."

"Purpose yet unfulfilled." She corrected, voice lilting with annoyance.

"You may have missed that part where I died." Loki replied coldly. "I fear that purpose is over."

"I can return you to the realms of the living." Hel said.

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "That would take an extraordinary amount of dark energy. At what cost would you waste that on me?"

Hel smirked, the sight rather terrifying given the fact that half of her face just opened.

"I have a proposition for you." Hel said. "You see I am rather invested in a certain apocalypse. An apocalypse it has been prophesised only you can cause."

"An apocalypse?" Loki repeated with distaste. "You do realise you are a resident of the universe you are apparently trying to destroy? I myself tend to put self-preservation before most forays though I could recommend some invasion plans if it is destruction you desire."

"There is a part of the universe that is safe. It is there I shall place the relic of my power. Helheim will survive and when everything in the universe dies they shall all come here, each one increasing my power." She said, a hungry gleam in her eye. "In return I offer you a place on my council. You shall have only myself above you here in Helheim."

"I shall have control over every soul in the universe with the exception of yours if I simply start this apocalypse?"

"Yes." Hel smiled.

"No." Loki answered, trying not to smirk at her shocked expression. She must have been so certain of his answer.

"Excuse me?" She hissed.

"Did my answer confuse you?" He asked. "No."

"You realise the first step is as simple as retrieving a casket?" Hel asked.

"I do not care what the task is. No." Loki snapped.

"And why is the God of Chaos refusing to start an apocalypse?" Hel demanded.

"Because the last time I sought power, someone I loved died. I will not do it again." Loki hissed angrily.

"Don't be ridiculous. She didn't die because you attempted to rule that pathetic planet." Hel said.

"Perhaps, but because of that, I was unable to protect her. The price of that power is one I will not pay." He snapped in reply. "I will not start your apocalypse. I will not let innocent people die to fuel your pursuit of power. It is about time I returned to the state I was in before. The line between good and bad, not heading straight towards evil."

"And what is the real reason?" She asked.

"That is the real reason." He hissed, stepping forwards angrily.

She smiled at him condescendingly. "You are not the only one who can tell when they are being lied to. No, that is _part_ of the reason. There is something else."

Loki's teeth grit as he steeled himself to reply. "I have been used by Odin as a tool for an alliance, by Thanos as a tool for power, and by Thor for vengeance." Though he did feel guilty throwing Thor's name in there with the others, it was still undeniably true. He hadn't been released from his cell because Thor had missed his company. "I will not be used by you for destruction."

Loki had been expecting blazing anger at his refusal. Hel only continued to smile in satisfaction.

"I gave you an opportunity to be in this with me. Do not forget that. Now if only there were a way for me to give you no choice. If only I were queen of the underworld. If only you had recently lost the one person who has ever loved you unconditionally." Hel said.

Loki's chest constricted. He had not even contemplated this.

"You do not mean-" He started but cut off as Hel waved her skeletal hand and his mother appeared in front of him.

"Loki?" Frigga asked, blinking at him in shock.

"Mother." He said, both of them running to each other. Even though he was taller, she still wrapped her hands round his arms rather than under.

"Loki," She whispered against his ears. He could feel her tears against his cheek. "I never wanted…you should not have…you died to avenge me, Loki."

But he could hardly hear her, because he never thought he would see her again, and it was too much. He had believed his last words to her would be of disowning her, that he would have to live with the knowledge he had caused her death. "I am so sorry," He said against her. "So sorry. For everything. I was a fool. I'm sorry. And I told the Kursed-"

"Shhh," She soothed. "I know. I know. I forgive you, Loki, it's okay."

"I'm sorry, mother." He repeated anyway.

"As touching as this is," Hel drawled, awakening him from the euphoria of seeing his mother. Loki pulled away though one arm still hung round his mother's waist. He never wanted to let go again, not giving a damn about how pathetic that undoubtedly was. "I believe you get my point."

Loki swallowed, not wanting explicit threats but needing to know. "What is it you would have me do?"

Hel grinned with satisfaction. "Firstly, you must return the Casket of Ancient Winters to the Jotunns, Frost Giant." _Well_, he thought, _he'd gone from 'Asgardian' to 'Frost Giant' rather quickly_.

"Loki?" Frigga frowned at him. "What is it you are doing?"

Loki took a deep breath, knowing he had lost and no matter how many times he had: to Thor, to Thanos, to the avengers…well he never could become accustomed to the taste of failure. "Causing an apocalypse, apparently."

Frigga gasped, stepping away from him. He felt something inside him crack at the sight. "Loki!" She said. "You cannot be serious-"

"Silence." Hel hissed. "You hold no part of this other than a bargaining chip."

"You give me your word no harm shall come to my mother if I comply?" Loki asked.

"Of course." Hel smiled creepily. Loki did not quite believe her but he equally had no choice. "And if you do not she shall be thrown to the deepest section of Helheim where the most evil of spirits are punished. I assure you that you do not wish for your mother to undergo such torture."

"Loki, no!" Frigga turned. "I am not worth-"

Frigga disappeared as Hel waved her hand once more, staring at Loki intently.

"What shall happen once the apocalypse is complete?" Loki asked.

"Well, you've lost your place on my council." Hel smirked. "But you and your mother shall be allowed to live with the other, normal souls. I am kind to those who serve me well, you shall not end up in the Halls of Punishment."

_Rewarded for causing the apocalypse by not being tortured_, Loki thought bitterly, _how very kind._

"Do we have an agreement?" Hel asked, knowing full well the answer.

Loki hesitated but knew he had no other option. "We do."

* * *

><p>Loki was back on Svartalfheim feeling like he had not only been stabbed by an eight foot spear, but like he had then commenced to be stampeded by a herd of Bilgesnipe, and gone a few rounds with the Hulk.<p>

He groaned, sitting up and coughing out the blood that still collected in his lungs.

And then he realised there was an Aesir above him.

The threat of his mother's fate was still fresh in his mind and he reacted instinctively, grabbing his dagger and plunging it into the Einhar's side.

The man was startled, and Loki quickly yanked the dagger out to push it back into his neck. The man fell, and Loki transformed into the guard, morphing the guard's body to look like his own.

His stomach churned with guilt, and he desperately wished that his revelation about the idiocy of his recent acts had come after he had caused Ragnarök, because he could have done with some moral apathy right now.

After realising there were no other Einhar around he changed the guard slightly: the eye colour, the size, the jaw shape. He looked similar but different enough that Loki wasn't revolted at the thought of wearing another man's skin after having killed him.

Loki wiped the dagger and slipped it into its pocket. He had been alive for less than a minute and already had one death to his name. Didn't that speak volumes about his true nature?

Loki shut his eyes, hoping Heimdall was too busy watching Thor to have seen this.

When he opened them, he was in Asgard, and he walked to tell Odin that he was dead.

"We did find a body." Loki said gently.

"Loki." Odin breathed. And then he smiled with relief that it wasn't Thor.

Loki smiled as he felt the familiar tug of pain in his gut. He had long since told himself he had taken away from Odin the power which he had to hurt him but he lied to himself more than anyone else. An awful lot given that he was the God of Lies.

He consoled himself with the fact that if the world were going to end at least Odin would die with it.

* * *

><p>"You have sent the casket to the Jotunns?" Hel asked appearing in his room.<p>

"I took it to them an hour ago." Loki said, hiding his anxiety for his mother's safety.

"You did not have to bring it yourself." Hel snapped.

"I wished to ensure it reached the Jotunns without the Asgardians interfering." Loki replied.

Hel contemplated this before nodding, the best he felt he would ever get to her conceding that he was right.

"The next step is an eclipse. When this happens you must be ready to release Odin's bane." Hel said.

"Is there anything less vague?" Loki asked, eyebrow rising.

"I am sure you can figure it out." The woman snapped before disappearing.

* * *

><p>Loki paced his room angrily. A mortal. Of all the people who discovered he was alive it had to be a mortal.<p>

And an irritating one at that.

Of course, she had been useful at first, as he'd managed to extract information from her at the banquet. SHIELD was obliterated. He'd been able to send the Casket almost immediately with the knowledge that the Avengers would be less of a problem.

But any other mortal would be terrified and avoid him.

No, she seemed to have taken him as her personal challenge.

Loki rested his head against the wall.

She wouldn't be a problem but she was annoying. He didn't think he had the energy to put up with her, but he felt like he was somehow defying Hel in some way by not killing her. She wanted him to be destructive, and he had chosen not to be. It was some small reminder that he was not entirely responsible.

Though it would take more than that.

He had tried to do the right thing for the first time in a long time, and he had died for it. He had refused to cause the apocalypse just to be forced to do it anyway.  
>He was destined for destruction. He was a monster. He could hardly try to deny it much longer.<p>

"What has happened?" Hel asked.

Loki's jaw clenched. The mortal had at least knocked before shouting at him, and yet Hel could not even manage that.

"Concerned for my welfare?" Loki asked sceptically.

"I want to know why you are not planning the release of Odin's destruction." Hel replied curtly as though unable to bear the suggestion she cared for the 'Frost Giant.'

"I was interrupted." He answered.

"Who?" She asked.

Loki felt a sudden need to protect that Darcy girl. He felt nothing but irritation in regards to her but he'd be damned if he let Hel kill someone because of him.

"A mortal." Loki answered. Better that he make her sound insignificant. Which she was. Well, he may have found her sense of humour slightly amusing but beyond that…

"She will not be a problem, I trust?" Hel asked.

"She is a mortal." Loki repeated.

This seemed to be answer enough for Hel.

* * *

><p>Loki returned to his room after being in the library with Darcy. The mortal tended to talk incessantly but even when she was silent, she had ways of distracting him.<p>

For instance she had been concentrating on her book with her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth, and he found himself…well he was certainly not looking at his bed. That was to blame- he'd had these images of her ever since she'd started sprawling across it.

Did mortal women usually lie on a man's bed for discussion? Because that was not how things worked in Asgard.

"This is enough." Hel said.

"Yes, please come in." He sighed sarcastically.

"You said the mortal would not be a problem" Hel said angrily. "And yet I watched you today. She is distracting you from your purpose."

"She is doing nothing of the sort." Loki replied. "You threaten my mother with torture and believe I will not search for your answer because I am so easily distracted by a pair of breasts?"

Loki felt guilty referring to Darcy as such, despite the magnificence of her breasts she really was much more than that. Still it was best to belittle her to Hel lest she go after the mortal.

"Make her leave you alone or I will kill her. Best you be not tempted away." Hel said.

Loki's eyes widened slightly in shock.

"You are not-"

"I am quite serious. Send her away." Hel said before disappearing.

Less than a minute later Darcy was at the door.

Ten minutes later they sat on his bed and she had kissed his cheek. He knew it was a gesture of no significance but he found himself wanting to kiss her in far more intimate places, and the way she was looking at him, well he was fairly certain the feelings were at least somewhat reciprocated.

She had not responded as he had expected her to at his first attempts to get her to leave. He had to make her go. He would not have her death on his conscience.

Not when he had only so recently gained one.

* * *

><p>"She is gone?" Hel asked.<p>

"Yes." Loki replied. "I find it adorable you were so threatened by a mortal."

"I was not." Hel snapped. "What would you have done if she had discovered your actions?"

"If a mortal had discovered your plan for the apocalypse, what do you believe they would have done? You truly think a mortal could be the undoing of your intentions?" Loki asked, knowing he was grating on her.

"Of course not-"

"And yet you threatened to kill her." Loki pointed out.

"Fine." Hel said. "I do not care about the mortal. If she finds out so be it but you will not say a word to her of it. And if she so much as breathes a word to another she will die in a way that will make the Halls of Punishment look enjoyable."

"Do continue to threaten the mortals. I understand from experience it is quite enjoyable." Loki mocked. She glared at him and disappeared.

* * *

><p>"I told you that you may fraternise with the mortal, not to tup her." Hel said.<p>

"It distracted her from her line of questioning, did it not?" Loki asked. Though of course that wasn't his only reasoning for doing it. He did not think he could resist for much longer.

"Is that how you cause all of your distractions?" Hel asked.

"Some." Loki answered. "Not to Thor of course, have you seen him? Though should it be Sif or Fandral who needed distracting…"

"Enough." Hel said. "I did not come to speak of your wanton nature."

Loki tried not to laugh. Sif would sooner stick her blade in his neck and Fandral, well, it had only been a few times.

And compared to most of the Aesir, he was practically a virgin. Too shy for most of his life to approach those he found attractive, and too intent on world domination for another part.

"Are you certain? We could have quite a lengthy discussion." Loki continued.

"The eclipse is tonight." She snapped. "I hope you are prepared."

"Yes yes." Loki said passively. "It should not be difficult to free Fenrir, though the journey shall take me a few days. His prison is warded to prevent apparition inside, though I may return that way."

"Fenrir?" Hel asked. "That is his bane?"

"According to most literature, yes." Loki answered.

"You are basing this on books?" Hel demanded.

"Did you expect me to ask the Allfather his bane?" Loki asked. "In earnest, I expect he would have replied with me if he knew I still breathed."

"You had best be right, Frost Giant." Hel said before promptly disappearing.

Loki sighed, looking at the supplies he had thrown on his bed, which he now magically stored. Fenrir had better be the correct beast.

* * *

><p>Darcy gasped, eyes flinging open not to another memory but to Loki looking at her with a pained expression.<p>

He lowered his hands.

"You idiot, that took more magic than you thought." She scolded.

"Is that all you can say?" Loki asked.

"I…" Darcy trailed off, shaking her head. "Shit."

His head tilted to the side in confusion. "Surely it is better that I am acting on someone else's behalf, rather than fulfilling my own desires."

"Oh hell no." Darcy answered. "When you did that, you were always going to lose. I mean, hate never took you to destroy the universe, did it? There was always some line you wouldn't cross. Now…" She looked at him in fear. "Now you're motivated by love. And I don't know if there's a force in this universe that could stop you."

* * *

><p><em>Chapter title from Broken Crown by Mumford And Sons. Yeah I apologise for regretfulredeemed Loki but if he actually died then all that stuff he said to Thor was true. And sappy as it is if he said that to Thor I imagine he would definitely say it to Frigga. Anyway now Loki no longer has secrets I can do his pov woo fun times. _

_Please review._


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